Along the Broken Road
by Aspendragon
Summary: FROZEN The real world can be a scary place if the wrong side takes over, so little things such as trust may be the only way to handle TR's fierce reign when all hope dwindles into a grain of sand...
1. The Secret New Trainer

**Chapter One - - - The Secret New Trainer**

The girl entering Route 1 blinked and then sighed, being twelve years of age and only having one pokemon at her disposal, this kind of fresh start wasn't going to be easy. Especially with Team Rocket running about Kanto like it was their playground. Her father, Professor Oak, and her grandfather back in Mahogany warned her to be careful as they popped out when one least expects on just about anyone.

And since she's a new trainer, they might want to take her pokemon while they're still at a low level and train it for their needs. Not like she was going to have that happen.

Her name was Ivory, a small girl for her age with gray hair in two braids and bangs down to her eyebrows. Her eyes shined of brilliant azure and among her figure she wore a pair of black work jeans, a black jacket over a blue tube top with a black choker around her neck. Slung around her left shoulder was her multi-pocket gray emo bag. Even for the decoration she wore tied a black bandanna to her head.

I'm sure you would be thinking that Team Rocket was always trouble and someone always came along and foiled his or her plans right? Well, that was before they began taking small yet powerful steps to taking control of the world. By taking over Kanto first by using pokemon for their bidding in more events and controlling their systems. Therefore most of everything was ran by Team Rocket. There was hardly any freedom now a days, and in fear of facing a strong trainer that might oppose them, they forbid any new trainers unless they vow in their alliance.

So Ivory was a secret new pokemon trainer that Team Rocket was not aware of. Happily, gym leaders all around still had their gyms open, no organization had been able to control them as of yet as the trainers loyal to those gym leaders had grown more powerful over the two years since the last Pokemon champ was proclaimed. Fortunately, none of the gym leaders have been overthrown and therefore, they still welcomed any trainer willing to challenge them. Good news to trainers like Ivory.

But there was one problem…and that involved getting caught.

Broadcasts helped tell the whole region that if anyone broke the laws they set for them then they would be given firm and possibly cruel punishments. That's why it took two years for Ivory to convince her parents that she was ready. And that took two years of convincing over cleaving over all pokemon studies and honing survival and martial arts skills. Being only twelve too, it took some of Professor Oak's help too. Despite the dangers he still had new pokemon shipped to him in case of any new trainers that wished to continue raising pokemon, even if it was now illegal. He has yet to be caught and he hardly had any investigations.

Since Team Rocket took over, Professor Oak had his lab swept of any pokemon and devices, he relied on making his own and catching pokemon himself. Not only that, even Deelia Ketchum, a neighbor and mother of the present and in hiding Pokemon champion, Ash Ketchum as well as Tracey Sketchit, Prof. Oak's aide went in to help in whatever way they can. Mae, Professor Oak's other grandchild other than the new Viridian gym leader Gary Oak pitched in to help in whatever way she could as well. When Ivory and her father, Dale Koguu moved into Pallet town, he took in whatever job he could, as he was a great anti-Team Rocket supporter.

No one could blame those who hated the team though; they got so out of control with dealing with the public of Kanto, even all members of the Elite Four and Kanto Battle Frontier leaders went into hiding. If they actually did something to stop these evil doers people might still be breathing in free air…

"What am I getting so worked up about anyway?" Ivory muttered as her poke'ball spun on her right index finger, then she stopped and caught it. "I'll be too powerful for anyone to mess with when those Rocket guys even know I exist,"

"_Pidgey!_" The bird pokemon started flying out of the treetops as she approached them, she smirked.

"Why not get some training down eh Kameko? Tackle!" She threw a poke'ball and a small blue turtle jumped out.

"_Squirtle!_"

Evening came upon the land as Ivory tiredly walked into Viridian; with a worn-out squirtle and a new pokemon – a spearow she nicknamed Aldara – all three ready to collapse. Without looking around she instantly recognized the Pokemon Center, still fortunately working through the region along with the Pokemon marts and gyms. Yet they were only suppose to support Team Rocket, but the Nurse Joys were still the generous women they have been since the beginning of their bloodline.

"Full restore please," Ivory said as she handed the two poke'balls to the salmon-haired nurse.

"Good evening Miss-" she greeted, smiling.

"Just Ivory,"

"All right then Ivory, would you like a bed for the night?" she asked as she handed the two balls to a nearby chansey. "Restore these please Chansey,"

"_Chansey_," it cried happily as she waddled away.

"One just for me please," Ivory answered; Nurse Joy typed away on her computer. "Is there any major Rocket activity nearby? Just so I know." Nurse Joy looked up in thought as she pressed 'Enter'.

"Why yes, just yesterday a house was being raided for suspicions of breeding ratattas, shame really. They didn't find a thing and left the house in ruins, poor Richard, he was pretty heartbroken, as he was tight on money before they arrived. He might have to move out and possibly live on the streets." Nurse Joy said sadly. "Then there's a look-out around Route 2 and quite a few squads down in Route 22."

It turned out that there was indeed a few Rockets wandering about on Route 2 or so Ivory noticed the next morning with Kameko and Aldara clipped to her belt. She quickly retook her steps and reappeared in Viridian for perhaps another day.

"Let's check out the gym," she decided after lunch and hurried out of the Pokemon Center, sadly, only to find it closed.

_Doesn't Prof. Gramps grandson fight as the gym leader here? Gary was it? _Ivory thought, recalling the day she asked about it.

* * *

"_If you come across Gary on your travels, do say hello for me." Professor Oak said as he wrote a few things on a clipboard. Ivory blinked, she had come over to visit as the kind new neighbor she was._

"_He's in the first town I'll ever visit Prof. I mean, he's the Viridian gym leader now isn't he?" she asked._

"_Yes, that's why he's no longer there. He's very powerful for a fifteen-year-old, intelligent at that. Also since he was the original rival of Ash Ketchum, Team Rocket thought he would be perfect for _enhancing _and wanted him on their side. Unfortunately for them he got wind of this and fled. Sadly, that's not really his style but his once arrogant self had somewhat transformed into wisdom and he thought it would be better leaving than fighting a whole crew of Rockets." Professor Oak explained._

"_Where do you suppose he's at?" Ivory asked._

"_Somewhere in Kanto, I don't think he would leave us behind. But who knows what he could be planning, we may be related, but we're quite different."

* * *

_

Professor Oak laughed with that, but she didn't find it quite funny. Not at all. He must have been so sad the day that Team Rocket took over, like everyone else however, he had suffered some sort of loss. Now none of them know if Gary Oak is alive, a member of Team Rocket, or even in Kanto. In fact, on the day Ivory left Pallet, he looked like he was remembering something as he handed a Poke'dex to her, saying that they were the world's most advanced pokemon encyclopedia.

Ivory asked for opinions from those that knew him in Pallet, Deelia clearly stated confidently that Gary Oak would die fighting against Team Rocket if it came to that, Mae proclaimed that he was a survivor and wouldn't fall to the hands of such evil and never stays down for the count. As for words from Professor Oak himself, he said that Gary would never be a traitor and leave him and the rest of the Pallet citizens behind to suffer alone.

Their only theory was that Gary was somewhere still in Kanto, possibly suffering more than they were as he was trying to stay out of the sights of Team Rocket.

Either way, Ivory did wish to find him. It was possible, but it was by all means a very slim chance if he was as clever as they say he was. She wanted to see him, the great Gary Oak everyone in Pallet spoke so fondly of next to Ash Ketchum. To at least see if he was thriving to report to everyone back at home, to at least see him. But right now, she needed to get stronger so she could be of some help when the time came to overthrow Team Rocket.

"Aw lass, I'm sorry to disappoint you but the gym leader here has been gone for quite sometime, even the inside tells you so. So dusty it is, and it's locked up tight. It's quite useless," It was an old man, a white mustache with real bushy white eye brows. She wondered how he could see with it all in his way.

"I know he's gone, I just wanted to see for myself if it were true." Ivory replied as she ran her fingers through her gray locks. The old man nodded sadly.

"Shame it is too, we were once a hustle-bustling town when it reopened with Giovanni as leader, but then it closed down again and then young Mr. Oak took over, then after some time he took off. It makes you think if the position is safe, but it was once ruled by Team Rocket,"

"Eh?"

"What? You didn't know lass? Indeed, Giovanni, our original gym leader, is in fact the founder and boss of Team Rocket." The old man said, Ivory sighed with relief, for a moment there she was thinking he was talking about Gary.

"Let me warn you lass, if you do come across Team Rocket's path, do be wise and do what they tell you to. It's useless to run, once they see you, you're as good as a marked man. Now do come with me, we can talk over a cup of tea. My name is Richard by the way, Richard Hardy." Ivory smiled.

"Ivory Koguu," she replied in return as she followed the short old man.

He led her to a fairly small little house not far from the gym with nicely trimmed bushes and a few flower patches. His windows weren't open.

"Every spring and summer I would have always left the windows open and prop up a flower pot with a pansy or a tulip of some kind on the window sill, but no more had I done that since _that_ day." Richard said as he opened the door after entering three keys into three different locks. "I'm sorry for the mess lass…"

Almost instantly Ivory gasped, the house was practically in ruins. The cabinets were emptied and their contents lay in shatters on the floor, cloths and other fabric were torn, pictures were shredded, and food and wrappers were everywhere. Even wood from the floors was scatter across the small house. Even the table was over-turned. She felt sick…

"Don't be sorry sir, I kind of heard…" Ivory managed as she cleared her throat.

"I appreciate the sympathy from the youth, but do not worry about me. This is all replaceable." Richard said as he hobbled in and shut the door.

"Did you…did you have a few pokemon here?" she asked, trying to sound calm as she tried to make her way through everything.

"Yes, but it was a while ago. In fact, I did have a ratatta, his name was Taki, and he was a small and spunky little guy. Yet on the first day of the broadcasts, I hurried off to the Pokemon Center, where I contacted my sister in Goldenrod and told her to take care of him. I sent him to her, knowing full well that Team Rocket couldn't have taken over Johto if they just now took over Kanto. But if not, it was a chance I was willing to make." Richard explained, silently she looked around; eyeing the place as Richard looked through everything for tea possibly.

"Oh dear they might have all been poured out…I'm sorry lass-"

"Hey! This place needs a bit of a fixer-upper don't you think?" Ivory suddenly cried, the man jumped and turned around.

"Oh no, that won't be ne-"

"Oh come on, what could it hurt! You invited me over for tea, I need to do something in return right guys?" Ivory asked as she called out Kameko and Aldara. Richard gasped.

"You're a pokemon trainer?" Richard asked.

"Yep, that's why I went to see the gym," Ivory said. Richard looked at her astounded.

"But you could be arrested!" he cried out.

"Why?"

"It's now illegal!"

"It's only illegal if you're caught," Ivory said with a mischievous glinting in her eyes, he looked shocked for a moment than smiled. "But anyway, guys, this is Richard Hardy, Richard, this is Kameko (_Squirtle!_) and Aldara (_Spearow!_). We're gonna clean this place up all right you two?" Ivory asked, winking at her pokemon, they looked around nervously, Kameko nodded and Aldara shrugged.

"How about you Richard?" Ivory asked.

"Let me assist you in whatever way I can," Richard said with a grin.

And so, they began.

"This shouldn't take too long with all four of us working together ne?" Ivory said as she grabbed a broom from Richard as he dug around for a dustpan. "Do you have any garbage bags? We're gonna need some,"

"Sure do, they should be somewhere around here…"

"Kameko, can you try fixing up the the living room, you know, sweep the junk in a pile in the middle of the floor and rearranging the furniture – you know what scratch that, just sweep stuff up and I'll take care of the rearranging 'kay!" Ivory shouted, Kameko nodded and grabbed another broom that Richard dug out. Ivory turned to Aldara. "All right, I want you to help sort out what's broken and what's still in one piece all right?"

"_Spear!_" Aldara flew towards Richard as he dug out a box of **GLAD Garbage bags**.

"Found 'em!" Richard cried.

About an hour later did the place look half-good and half-bad. Kameko had managed to get more than half the living room cleaned, and a small amount was still usable and gathered by Aldara. Richard began to get his grandfather clock moving again, which was thrown to the floor and miraculously survived the crash. It still however, adorned a crack across its face, but worked just fine.

The plumbing wasn't damaged by all means, good news to them all. Most of the food was spoiled and had to be thrown away, the cloths and fabrics were mostly shredded and beyond repair but Ivory began sewing various ones together creating a table quilt if you may. She was certainly not at all going to waste something that didn't need to be thrown away. It also did add a but more color to Richard's home.

And finally, with a few more touches and throwing the full **GLAD **bags away and into the front yard, the house was done. It would have taken longer if he had a basement or an upstairs, which fortunately, he didn't.

Tiredly, Ivory fell down on the sofa with Kameko on her right and Aldara on her left. Richard, unlike the threesome, happily bounced about, still full of energy. Someone switched the elderly and the youth around apparently.

"I don't know how to thank you for all you have done! I never had the motivation of cleaning it myself till this afternoon but oh thank you so much!" Richard cried happily, tears now running down his face as he bounced around anymore.

"Dear lord Rich, calm down before you have a heart attack," Ivory moaned. "You still need food though, a refrigerator was invented for a reason." Ivory stood up. "I'll go and get some, return!" She pointed the poke'balls at her tired turtle and bird, the two were sucked into their balls for a good night's rest.

"No, you can't go outside with it so dark out, not in Viridian City!" The man said, obviously trying to distract her from exiting.

"What are you going to eat for breakfast than?" Ivory asked, still sounding tired.

"We'll get it in the morning, but now is when they scout the area! Stores won't close of course since they always investigate them before they turn the lights off but-wait!" Richard shouted as she headed for the door. "I beg of you!"

"Relax old man, I'll only be gone for some twenty minutes. I'm only staying in Viridian till I figure out how to get past those darn Rockets and get into the forest and hopefully get into Pewter City in one piece!" That made him shout louder, obviously mentioning in all high hopes of not getting hurt burst his bubble.

"Are you crazy you'll be killed or worse! Be persuaded into Team Rocket!" Richard cried as her hand made it to the knob.

"What's the worst they can do?" she asked dully, he went silent, she looked at him and nearly jumped with fright with how seriously – not to forget horrifyingly – serious he actually looked.

"They'll do whatever it takes to get rid of obstacles, anyone that disobeys Team Rocket, _is an obstacle_ do you hear me? I'm not letting a youngster like yourself getting hurt!" Richard said quietly.

"You're just being stubborn,"

"Oh am I? Because I'm not the only one!"

"I actually don't want to live my life in fear of some group pathetic enough that they need to travel in groups! Heck! If they're so great than why didn't they get any of the gym leaders on their side huh? Or why they haven't found Gary or any of the Elite yet? Tell me that?" Ivory retorted.

"Why do you think their whereabouts are unknown?"

"Their in hiding, that's the whole point of it all! Not having someone know where they are!"

"Correct, but if Team Rocket were weak compared to them all, why didn't they take them on when they first started broadcasting? Than we wouldn't have to deal with this all right? Think girl! In this world you not only need strength, you need your smarts!" Richard growled. "They didn't go in hiding for no reason! It was all unexpected! Days and maybe weeks before Team Rocket took over Ash Ketchum was said to have put an end to them all! Then he vanishes and suddenly they roar back up and claim Kanto as their own! They were powerful! Strong! Possibly their strength together was equal to that of the Elite Four and the Viridian gym leader's! Then where is Ash? I don't know, but if Team Rocket weren't so great, they would have been sent back to the dirt where they belong far long from now! But guess what! That hasn't happened yet if you haven't noticed! You are forced to be a trainer in secret! Avoid them all you can and here you are forcing yourself into their hands! It's like your asking for it all to happen to you!"

Richard took in deep breaths and released them; Ivory's right hand was still clenched onto the knob with Richard clinging to her left sleeve.

"Then what am I suppose to do?" Ivory asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Hm?"

"I suppose me 'asking for it' is possibly heading into danger right? Well, at least it's something, and that is sure better than nothing. Now if you don't mind, you're already skin and bones." Ivory said as she turned around and left. Shutting the door securely behind her. Richard stood there, as if paralyzed.

"I wonder…" he muttered as he began to walk towards his sofa.

* * *

"Let's see, so far nothing out of the ordinary." Ivory said aloud as she entered the Pokemon Mart. The lights still on and the doors still unlocked, there were no customers other than her, but there was a cashier, and he stood there, staring at her as if she were a ghost.

"May I help you ma'am?" he asked politely. She smiled back lightly.

"Just for the pay, it shouldn't take me too long and I'll be on my way." Ivory said as she walked down an isle. About ten minutes later her basket was full, thinking it was enough and the old man wasn't too far from the place she wandered to the counter. "This'll be all sir," Ivory said as she placed it on the counter. He began pricing it quickly.

"You do know they'll be here any minute right? And you being out so late I have to question your safety," the cashier said, he was no older than eighteen with nicely-combed brown hair and large hazel eyes, obviously concerned to someone who was a stranger to him.

"No need to worry, I'm quick on my feet. Besides Richard would starve himself if I didn't get all of this." Ivory stated, he stopped for a moment and then continued.

"Richard? As in Richard Hardy? Wasn't his house ransacked?"

"Yeah, I helped him fix it up a bit so it was livable again, thankfully everything damaged was replaceable." Ivory said as he told her the price and she searched her pockets.

"Take it, all on the house." He said.

"What?"

"Take it, and this too," he handed her a small white bag. He smiled, "It's the last of the Poke'Mart's original products, since we haven't actually had a trainer here with no alliance to Team Rocket there was no use selling it, and then with prohibition on becoming a trainer inside Kanto without their approval and the new trainer's vow to the organization well…people like you are just hard to come by," She looked from the bag and free bags of food. Silently she took them.

"Thank you sir, good night and good luck." Ivory said as she walked towards the automatic doors.

"Same to you, oh by the way, name's Will!"

"Ivory Koguu," Ivory answered back with a smile. The doors closed behind her.

The walk back to Richard's house wasn't all that hard, but bypassing Rockets made her hide a few times in the dark, especially those heading to the mart. When they vanished behind the automatic doors, she hurriedly ran for the house. She knocked on the door quickly, and just at the same speed did Richard open it and allow her inside.

"Wow! You gathered a feast!" Richard cried, "I hope you didn't have to pay too much with the prices nowadays…"

"Actually…" she told him what happened as she helped put the food away, leaving the white bag on the table.

"Really? Will's a kind lad, I believe he still owns a dodrio he calls Feathers," Richard said as he placed a bar of butter in the refrigerator.

"_Feathers_?" Ivory asked with a grin.

"Hatched it from an egg when it was a doduo when he was five, they've been together for years! It's funny really, it gained the habit of climbing onto the roof and crowing every morning, wakin' all the folks of Viridian. Than it came to when it evolved, and when an extra head came in, the crowing only got louder and there was no need for an alarm clock anymore. Then the whole darn Team Rocket ya know came over yadda yadda yadda…never knew I liked that noisemaker till it was making no more sound every morning…in fact, a lot of people had been getting up late, sleeping in even with an alarm clock blasting in their ears…not the same…not at all…" Richard said as he put the last loaf of bread away.

"Where is Feathers now? Is Will hiding it somewhere?" Ivory asked, Richard looked suddenly grave.

"He was taken," There was no question of who did take the dodrio, Ivory closed her mouth quickly. Richard however, just as quickly broke the silence.

"Now let's see what the lad gave you," Ivory stuffed the bags in one and hung it on a doorknob and took hold of the small white bag and tipped it. A few items fell out of it.

"Let's see…two potions…good, an antidote, a few more special cures oh! Poke'balls, you'll need those." Richard said happily as he collected the stuff back into the bag and Ivory slipped it into her emo bag. "Now, how about some dinner? Know anything good to cook?"

"Eh? Shouldn't I be getting back to the Poke-"

"Causwallop! You're staying over tonight! The sofa has a pull-out bed anyhow!" Richard exclaimed as she sweat-dropped.

Indeed she slept over; she pulled out the bed from the sofa and placed sheets on it. Having fed the whole household everyone was full and happily – yet tiredly – Richard went off to bed. Kameko and Aldara happily took a part of Ivory's bed and closed their eyes.

"Hope no Rockets come bargin' in through the door…we would have…a bit of explaining'…to do…huh?" Ivory said with a yawn, before tucking herself in and falling asleep.

* * *

"Thank you so much sir, but I need to get going," Ivory said the next morning as she shook hands with Richard.

"Please do come back soon all right, I can't shop by myself all the time ya know? Oh yes, here, I wanted to give you something…" Richard said, pulled her by the forearm back into the house and slamming something into her palm.

"What in the…world…?" She looked at it.

"Team Rocket must have dropped it when they raided my house, I believe it is called a poke'gear, ever since well, _everything that has happened _any kind of Pokemon devices like the ones in Professor Oak's lab were taken and illegal to use. But as you told me he has been making some right? Tell him he's mighty clever next time you see him 'kay? Anyway, this is how you use it. This is how you turn it on, yes; it beeps to let you know. It doesn't need to be charged which is good…and it instantly reveals what time it is and where you are yadda yadda yadda. The good part is it can be used as a phone as well and yeah, that's it – oh my… these names look…awfully…"

She stared at the list of names and their numbers.

**Professor Oak --- Immediate call**

Professor Elm --- Immediate call

**Jimmy Yoshi --- Immediate call**

**Vincent Jackson --- Immediate call**

Wait! Professo Oak? Elm? They looked over it again, yes, that was it.

"…familiar…"

"You don't think that Team Rocket came across something of Ash's?"

"No…I don't believe he owned a Poke'gear…but maybe, he could have gained one over his travels or came across one himself when he was in hiding…" Richard said.

"But…how many people would have these names and numbers on them?" She asked as she scrolled down the names of some woman named Lilith Dani, and a few others that she never heard of or knew from some other town…

"I can think of only one, and that is not Ash, he knew the two professors I know for sure but no idea on the others, but let's check his/her location. Every poke'gear has its designated owner's whereabouts on it. Maybe that's why it was in the possession of Team Rocket." Richard stated as she clicked for the map. It gave off a blurry screen and a fuzzy noise. She quickly turned down the volume, but the name was revealed in the left upper corner.

_**Marina Dani**_


	2. At the Beginning

**Chapter Two - - - At the Beginning**

It had been hours since Ivory left Richard's house, and here she was, still hiding behind a bush where a couple of Rockets stood, apparently not interested in leaving their posts at the exit of Viridian City. It drove her nuts that she couldn't go anywhere without looking over her shoulder. She just hoped she wouldn't get a sense of paranoia.

That wouldn't be good in any mental case.

"Huh?" she snapped her focus back at the Rockets and saw another appear out of nowhere, he began talking to the other two and instantly those two ran off somewhere with the other Rocket, the exit was Rocket-free!

_Of course…after a couple of years they would become cocky now wouldn't they? _She thought as she stepped out of her hiding place and hurried down Route 2. Since the visit with Richard she hadn't been able to do much but go to the edge of Viridian City and wait till well, for something to distract those Rockets so she could slip by. Yet it didn't happen till some time after noon.

But she did get to keep the poke'gear. Richard guess that it might come in handy and she might find a repair shop for the map section within the poke'gear in Cerulean City. Yet that was a while away, he said there was another in Pewter, but she had to go through a possibly Rocket-filled Viridian Forest to get there. She had her work filled to the rim; it was going to be hard.

_There it is! _It looked – abandoned. It was the entrance building to the Viridian Forest; the sign that said so was overgrown with tall grass and was probably never given a glance for some two years. Quietly, Ivory crept up to the door and tried to turn the handle. Surprisingly, it was unlocked.

Cautiously she walked in and shut the door behind her; it was barely lit by the sunlight that poured in through the dusty windows and plants that were outside them. A counter ran along side the left of the building, a couch on the other with a few rotting plants and a picture on the right wall. Everything was dusty, moldy from the smell of the plants, but the picture. Ivory stood in front of it.

It was a picture of the Kanto map. The glass was shattered on the ground, leaving a gap of cracked glass on the picture frame. She peered at the illustrations; it seemed that someone marked the Safari Zone in a bold black marker in the shape of an 'X'. She cocked her head, was it the previous owner the one who damaged the picture. Most likely not…

"C'mon back to your posts already!" someone barked, she jumped and crouched down hurriedly behind the sofa.

"Right sir," someone replied, a Rocket Grunt by the sound of it, they were, what would you call them? The dogs of the Executive Rockets? All well, she didn't care, in a bit of time; she would be over their level.

"Hurry, he'll be here in twenty minutes!" Ivory, by instinct knew she couldn't be here when that person arrived. It could have been Giovanni, or perhaps even a stronger force of Rockets that could come plummeting into the building. Being a rookie trainer with only two pre-evolved pokemon, she didn't even want to imagine the kind of predicament she would find herself in if it did come to that actually happening!

She slunk out from behind the sofa and peered at the door, there was a shadow against one window, but it wasn't looking at her because if it had, he or she wouldn't have seen anything anyway and there wasn't much of a purpose of looking at a dusty window now was there?

She reached the other door across from the entrance one and put her ear against it. No noise whatsoever; not even the sound of a caterpie or weedle. It was eerily silent. Too silent. Slowly, she opened the door. Again she was caught by surprise, as there were no Rockets at the other side of the building. There wasn't even any of them here as far as she could see.

Shutting the door behind her she stepped into the forested area. Was it possible that Team Rocket captured all of the pokemon in the Viridian forest? They were mostly bugs and probably a pidgey or two. Or maybe they were just being quiet because they knew they had to.

Either way, Ivory began making her way through the forest. She came across nothing as she ran around trees, jumped over rocks and dead logs and even a small creek. The place was practically – abandoned! But still alive. The trees were still lush and green and seemingly untouched. She continued to move forward, at least until she heard voices.

"We're being sent to Goldenrod's underground right?" her heart jumped into her throat! Goldenrod? They were already concentrating on Johto already? That was certainly not good…so who was heading them into this one?

"Yeah, Tyson's taking us over soon." Tyson? Ivory pushed a few bushes away from one another, spotting a few Rockets near the exit of the Viridian Forest. Yes! She was almost home free! But she still wasn't out of the woods yet! She needed to distract them again, she was getting edgy with all this waiting around crud and she had been wandering for at least forty minutes! If that guy was supposed to be where she came from in twenty minutes, then shouldn't he have been here by now?

"Hey, he's on his way!" another Rocket cried.

_I have to find another way out! _Ivory thought as she backed away, but she accidentally released the bushes, they bounced back and fourth, making a rustling sort of noise. Unfortunately, she realized with a gasp, it caught their attention.

"What was that?" someone asked.

"Don't know, but I'm going to check it out." Another replied, the sound of something clicking like that of a gun being adjusted, footsteps soon followed and Ivory found herself walking away slowly. The Rocket began parting the bushes with a rifle as she ducked and began crawling away quickly.

"I think you were being paranoid there Ross," a man said with a dark chuckle.

"Sorry, didn't know bushes moved by themselves." The man named Ross replied.

"Shut up you two, look here, found some foot prints, small shoes. There's a kid in here…" the Rocket that was searching cried out to his comrades, Ivory bumped into a tree and looked up at the dark tree leaves. It was her only choice, now that they weren't looking. She redoubled back around the Rockets and to the places where he had already checked. She did it so quickly, she surprised even herself.

"It went this way…" the grouchy Grunt said, his two comrades behind him. With a slight glimpse at the exit, there were no more Rockets, and then looking back at the other three, they were currently all armed and looking ahead and not behind.

And with one burst of energy…

She charged for the door, but…

It wasn't meant to be a quiet escape.

BAM! She ran into…the door…real smooth there Ivory…

"Ugh…that wasn't suppose to happen…pretty sure it wasn't…" Ivory muttered, the Rockets spun around just as she opened the door.

"HEY! HALT!"

"Sorry boys! Gotta run!" Ivory cried as she ran in and shut the door behind her, she quickly ran to the other door, not caring whether someone was outside because three had already spotted her and probably were going to call for more. She didn't want to be around when that happened!

"Hey!" Yep, there were more and currently were not properly armed. Giving her more time to run.

_Run! Run! Run! Just keep running! _Ivory thought as she ran down the dirt path with cries of pokemon following her.

_Run faster! Run faster! Run faster! _She mentally cried as the cries grew louder.

"Get her! Don't let her get away!" Rockets cried, instantly a force from beneath her flipped her and she did a full flip before crashing down on her back. She sat up quickly.

"Hey! You don't need to be so pushy!" Ivory shouted as she resisted rubbing her back where she hit the ground from some three feet from it. _There's going to be a bruise…I just know it…_

"Sorry little missy, but you'll just have to come with us. You were spotted-" supposedly the head Rocket said from atop of a camerupt. The red camel's stared at her, she noticed she was at its nostrils and quickly backed away, to notice more of them surrounding her. It surprised her that they caught up to her, maybe that's why she was blown off her feet…

"In a forest? I'm suspicious because I was in a _forest_?" Ivory asked with sarcasm, the Rocket fumed.

"Don't question us!" The Rocket growled.

"Or what? You going to ask me questions? But if you must I have to warn you that if its too personal than I shant speak of it!" Ivory replied smoothly, folding her legs beneath her.

"Real wise but you have no choice, first of all you weren't only suspicious in the forest-"

"Did I really look that sinister?" Ivory asked slyly.

"SHUT UP AND LISTEN!" the man roared, some of the other Rockets winced.

"Well hurry up, I've got places to go, people to meet, things to buy you know?"

"So do we so be quiet-"

"Really? It looked more like you were doing nothing back there. Is standing around a job?" She really shouldn't have let her inner self take over, but she was in the mood for some kind of action after doing all that waiting and wandering. It does get boring. The head Rocket was seething by now, the other Rockets glanced down at her, even with a hint of sympathy.

"You-little-" The Rocket growled his eyes greatly narrowed. "AIM YOUR FIRE!" he suddenly cried, several machine guns were pointed down at her, she paled.

"Hey erm…wait-what about my questions?" she asked nervously.

"Questions? My dear, you won't be alive to answer them! FI-" A loud crash sounded, and before anyone knew what was happening, the camerupt with the top Rocket standing on him was thrown to the side by a giant stone tail it seems, when the dust that erupted from under that camerupt cleared, there stood a large onix, staring down at Ivory.

"Grab on!" A voice shouted as the onix lowered its head, there she found the owner of the voice, a tan boy with spiky dark hair. He wore a green T-shirt with a brown multi-pocket vest and long dark Jeans. His eyes seemed close. He held out his hand to her. "C'mon!" She quickly grabbed his hand and he pulled her up onto the onix's head and the pokemon reared back with a roar.

Ivory looked down at the Rockets, they looked stunned.

"We have to hurry, back to the gym Onix!" The teenage boy shouted, the pokemon nodded and quickly turned around and slithered – loudly – away. Ivory and the boy watched Team Rocket help their leader back up, the camerupt bellowed, but with one roar sent back by Onix, they made a quick retreat.

"Think they're the best when their victims are helpless, completely cowardly when someone stronger than them comes along hence, the whole 'no new trainer' rule." The boy said, then he turned to Ivory. "The name's Brock by the way, I'm the Pewter City gym leader that's why I have pokemon. Are you a trainer?" he asked.

"Yep, my name is Ivory Koguu. I just started," He smiled.

"You have guts you know?" he said, she blushed slightly. "But anyway! _DO YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND!_" She sweat-dropped. Onix turned his head, still moving, and growled.

"Oh…yeah, sorry 'bout that…" Brock said in a lowly voice, Onix turned his head forward again. Ivory couldn't help but laugh, since when did the pokemon scold the trainer?

* * *

"Ah, so you crept out of Pallet Town to become a _secret new trainer_?" It was Flint, Brock's dad who spoke as he, Brock and Ivory sat at a table with tea set out before them.

"It's not so much as a secret anymore." Ivory corrected, Flint chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose that would be right now that Team Rocket has discovered you? But I don't think they would have recalled you as a trainer, did you have any pokemon out?" Flint asked.

"No,"

"Then they possibly just thought you were trespassing. But your still wanted if not before." Flint stated. Ivory nodded in understanding, the whole region of Kanto was under Team Rocket's mercy. Maybe even Johto soon…

"They're going after Johto too!" The two didn't seem shocked at the abrupt news.

"No surprise, if they're going to make themselves public they're going to go after other regions as well. Kanto so far is most powerful of the region thus far with the Elite and the Kanto Battle Frontier and being the first to establish Pokemon gyms. Then there are our connections with the Orange islands…" Flint said as he sipped his tea.

"What are we going to do?" Brock asked, no one answered.

"Hey Brock, my doll's head fell off!" A young girl cried as she ran up to Brock. Showing indeed a beheaded pikachu doll.

"Go and bring me my sewing kit then," Brock ordered as he took the doll, the girl nodded and scampered off.

"Your sister?" Ivory asked, Brock nodded.

"The rest are scattered about," Flint finished.

Ivory found this to be a little too true as she found herself wandering about unnoticed.

"Stop it!" a girl whined.

"Make me!" a boy replied. The fighting only got worse, Ivory became stern.

"QUIET!" The room went silent. Flint poked his head in as every child's head turned towards Ivory. "It's quite rude arguing with company at your house you know? So…are you like this all the time?" They vaguely nodded.

"Well then! That's gonna have to change! You do know that Team Rocket took over Kanto right?" she asked, they nodded again. "And do you realize that's where we live?" they nodded again, a vein throbbed. "And you're not worried?" they shook their heads.

"Dad and Brock will protect us! And Onix and Geodude and Crobat-" a boy cried out.

"Hold on! I'm going to challenge him I can't know what his pokemon are!" Ivory shouted, the boy shut his mouth.

"You're going to hurt Brock's pokemon?" a girl asked.

"Eh?" Ivory yelped.

…

…

…

"NO! WE WON'T LET YOU!" They cried as they threw themselves on Ivory, pinning her in her standing state. Ivory squirmed.

"Think of it as a fight for pride or something! You know rescuing the princess or something like that!" Ivory cried, sweat-dropping. She spotted Flint.

"Hey! Help me out here!" she cried, Flint quickly ran off.

"_FFFFFFFFLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!"

* * *

_

"So you want to challenge me to a pokemon battle?" Brock asked several minutes later after Brock jumped in and saved Ivory from the grasps of his sisters and brothers. It was soon after that he asked to be his girlfriend that she temporarily knocked him out. Then they took a seat at the table again and talked like _human beings_. Flint was nowhere to be seen.

"Why wouldn't I? I'm a trainer now aren't I? And in order to get stronger I have to battle gym leaders right?" Ivory asked.

"That's true, but you do know that if you gather eight genuine gym badges you get to face off in the Indigo Plateau? But I'm sorry to say that it hasn't been open for two years. And with the Elite gone…well, there's hardly much to be gained from gaining badges." Brock said, she shook her head.

"That's totally off the point. I want to become stronger so I can overpower Team Rocket! I'm sick of sitting around watching them boss others around! Something has to be done," Ivory growled. Brock looked thoughtful.

"That's a good goal, but let's start with something simpler. How about I give you my number on that poke'gear you have." Brock said, eyeing her chest. She blushed.

"How do you know I have a poke'gear?" she asked, as if she didn't already know.

"Well, I have been noticing-" BAM! THUD!

"YOU ONLY NOTICED BECAUSE YOU WERE _LOOKING_!" She roared.

"Now…(Another several minutes later) why do you want to exchange numbers?" Ivory asked as she handed the poke'gear to the Pewter leader.

"So we can stay in touch, I may have been secluded in my city, but it hasn't stopped me from staying in contact with all the other gym leaders. I don't know all of their numbers, they call me mostly. But if there is any news whatsoever I can call you and I would give your map a bit more information but…" he stared at the blurry screen. "Who's Marina Dani? Sounds familiar…"

"That's what an old guy in Viridian said, but he can't recall." Ivory replied.

"All well, I also know plenty of shortcuts I discovered when I traveled with Misty and Ash-"

"Ash?"

"Yeah, I was an old travel buddy of Ash Ketchum, haven't you seen me on the screen with him at the Indigo Plateau?" Brock asked, she racked her brain. Then it hit her.

"Oh yeah, now I remember! You looked a bit younger back then…" she said.

"Oh? So now I look _old_?" Brock asked, she sweat-dropped.

"Not as old as your father!" Ivory added quickly.

"Hey!" Flint yelped as he rounded the corner, she looked at him quickly with evil eyes. He ran off again.

"Wonder what his problem is?" Brock wondered aloud as Ivory silently fumed.

"So who was Misty?"

"She's the current Cerulean City gym leader, another one of our close friends of the trio." Brock said, "Along with her there are the three beautiful, lovely (several more names that suited the three sisters of the Cerulean gym by Brock later) and not to forget glamorous sisters! Violet! Lily and Daisy!" Brock cried, Ivory looked at the stacked cooking pots, eyeing their handles. They suddenly looked tempting…

"So you were all close friends? By any chance would you know where-"

"Ash ran off to? Sorry, dunno. All I know is that Professor Oak and his mother were the last to see him, since he took a stop at Professor Oak's lab and took all of his pokemon and then vanished. He was seen heading for Johto." Brock said.

"Why would he go to Johto?" Ivory asked.

"The only way to know is to ask him, but Johto is just as big as Kanto, possibly a bit bigger with Cianwood City a bit off the coast of Olivine…" Brock said with thought. "Besides, you don't want to go running into Johto with no experience facing off with Team Rocket. The reason no one has been able to leave and come into Kanto was because of them, they blocked off all main roads here and the security is so tight, you can't even manage in a needle through any gap that could exist." Ivory looked up in thought.

"Then how would I get through Mt. Moon if I want to get to Cerulean, I was lucky you came when you did when Team Rocket caught up to me?" Ivory asked.

"Simple, I'll distract whomever I can and let you slip through unnoticed. Heck, you might be able to grab a moon stone while you're at it." Brock said with a shrug.

"A moon stone? The rock that came from space?" Ivory asked with slight disbelief, Brock smiled.

"If you would believe me, Ash, Misty and I actually did see that stone, and it actually does grant pokemon such as clefairy to evolve." Brock explained, Ivory's eyes widened.

"You saw their evolution? That's cool, I can't wait till my pokemon evolve…" Ivory said.

"What pokemon do you have anyway?" Brock asked.

"When do we battle?" Ivory asked back with a sly grin.

"How about tomorrow morning, you can sleep over since there's a spare room somewhere upstairs." Brock suggested. "That way my family will sleep in and won't interrupt the battle in any way." He was obviously pointing out what happened with Ivory and his sisters and brothers.

"Point taken," Ivory said.

"But what would you like for dinner?" Brock asked.

"Anything, I'm starved!"

Time passed slowly for the anxious. So Ivory was no exception. Morning came as slow as a slugma for Ivory, but she made up the time by scurrying into the shower and out and redressing. By the time she got downstairs Brock had already prepared breakfast for two.

"Any chance I'll win over with this?" he asked.

"Don't ask for it so early," she answered, he laughed.

It was no later then ten did they make their way to the gym.

"Be lucky gyms are connected to the home, that way we don't have to worry about anyone suspecting a trainer here." Brock said as he opened a giant blue door and they both walked in. It was completely dark.

"Something wrong with your electricity?" Ivory asked as he closed the door behind them.

"Nah, just didn't need them on for quite some time so what was the point of turning them on?" Brock asked as he felt the wall for the switch probably.

"Where's the-ow!" she stubbed her toe on something.

"Oh wait! Sorry I forgot they were automatic! Give me a minute!" He cleared his throat as Ivory rubbed her toe through her shoe. "_Who dares enter the Pewter City gym?"_ The lights snapped on, revealing a large field of rocks, one Ivory was sitting on. She glared at him.

"Something the matter?" he asked. She shook her head with an angry sigh. "All right let's get this started, you go on that end and I'll go over here. I'll explain the rules as we go," Brock said. She nodded and limped in her given direction.

"You sure you're all right?"

"Fine fine! Perfect!" _As right…as rain! _She cried back.

"If you say so, but anyhow! Let's have a two-on-two battle! Only the challenger has the right to substitute pokemon or use any items! When two of one of the opponent's pokemon are unable to battle, the other opponent wins! Catch that?" Brock asked as they stood on opposite ends of the battlefield.

"Yeah! You go first!" Ivory shouted.

"Ladies first!" Brock shouted back with a grin. She snorted.

_All right, not meaning to cheat but one of his brother's mentioned all these Ground and Rock types so I would be best off with Kameko, he did learn Bubble not too long ago so he could knock them all out with one hit or two! But then what if he uses Crobat? No! He can't, I'm a rookie trainer after all! _"Go! Kameko!" Ivory cried as she released her turtle pokemon.

"_Squirtle!_" Kameko cried.

"Not a bad choice, c'mon out Geodude!" Brock shouted, releasing a small pokemon that resembled a small boulder with two strong arms. Ivory took out Dex (her poke'dex). She pointed its sensor at the pokemon called geodude.

"**Geodude, the Rock/Ground pokemon.**" Dex spoke, in a digital kind of way. "**When this pokemon sleeps deeply, it buries itself halfway into the ground. It will not awaken even if hikers step on it unwittingly. In the morning, this pokemon rolls downhill in search of food.**"

"Begin!"

"Use Bubble Kameko!" Ivory shouted, Kameko's shell enlarged as she leaned back and then lunged a blast of blue bubbles towards the Boulder pokemon.

"_Geodude!_" The geodude made a quick dodge, missing the bubbles by an inch.

"Sorry, after training under so much pressure from the last two years, my pokemon have improved. All the gym leaders are like that now, so they're much more difficult to defeat." Brock stated.

"No problem! I simply become stronger!" Ivory shouted back, grinning. "Use Bubble!"

"_Squirt!_" This time, the attack hit, but Geodude recovered and was ready to fight again. Ivory growled as she looked down at the still open Dex.

_That only took more than half of its HP…and with Kameko at her current level, she better not get hit by any of Geodude's attacks…what's worse, the next pokemon might be Onix… _"Use Bubble one more time!" _Therefore I need to finish this battle quickly! Aldara won't stand a chance! _Ivory thought, Kameko launched another Bubble. Geodude fainted upon the unlucky collision.

"Return Geodude," The Boulder pokemon was sucked into its respective ball in a flash of red. Brock minimized it and as he maximized another he looked up at Ivory.

"I hope you have another good pokemon Ivory, you've met this one already! Go Onix!" Brock shouted, just as she thought, he was planning on using that rock snake after all.

"All right Dex, your say."

"**Onix, the Rock/Ground pokemon.**" Dex beeped. "**This pokemon has a magnet in its brain, it acts as a compass so that this pokemon does not lose direction while it is tunneling. As it grows older, its body becomes increasingly rounder and smoother.**"

"Begin Round 2!" Brock shouted, almost playfully. Ivory blinked, quite shocked.

"I hope you're not trying to trick me Brock!" Ivory shouted back.

"Now why would I do that?" Brock asked as Ivory whispered something with her eyes still on Brock, whom was oblivious to her devious plan.

"You know, to be 'Even Steven' or so that's how I think the saying goes." Ivory replied.

"Oh, like I have to knock out your pokemon-"

"_Squirtle!_" Kameko shot Onix another Bubble, still packed with power. The onix was only damaged by one third.

_I really have to hurry! Brock probably already caught on to my strategy!_ Ivory thought miserably as she prepared to order another Bubble attack.

"Clever, trying to distract me are you Ivory, Onix! Erm…" Brock rubbed the back of his head, Onix shook his head.

"What's the problem?" Ivory asked, not sounding concerned though.

"I just now remembered that all of Onix's attacks will most likely knock out Kameko in one hit." Ivory fell.

"Then why didn't you send out a weaker pokemon?" Ivory shouted, "I only just began less than a week ago!" Brock sweat-dropped.

"I know…sorry…"

"Bubble with everything you've got!" Ivory ordered, her luck was probably swept dry as the great pokemon fell to the ground, fainted.

"…" Brock wordlessly returned Onix to his ball.

"Critical hit! Awesome job Kameko!" Ivory cried as she ran onto the field and picked up the tiny turtle.

"_Squirtle! Squirt!_" Kameko cried back happily as Ivory embraced her tightly.

"I really thought that Aldara was going to be doomed there!" Ivory laughed as she released the turtle from her suffocating grip.

"Aldara?" Brock questioned as he approached her.

"My spearow," Ivory replied with no hesitation.

"Ah, that would have been quite a messy predicament. You have a lot of faith in one pokemon there Ivory." Brock said with a grin, "And as proof of my defeat – you shouldn't brag about this in public just so you know – here is the Boulder Badge!" He took her hand and placed a silver hexagon in her hand, it shined.

"Won't this get me in trouble if Team Rocket or someone investigates me?" Ivory asked.

"Then don't let someone do that, but it will serve as a savior if you're cornered in by the gym leader trainers or the leader themselves in a gym or somewhere. They'll understand that you're an ally. You're the first to gain a Boulder Badge in the last two years, therefore, I congratulate you even more with a fantastic lunch before you leave!" Brock said, clasping a hand to her left shoulder. "But as for that, do you think you can treasure the moment with a little peck-"

BAM!

"AREN'T I TOO YOUNG!" Ivory bellowed.

* * *

"The easiest way to get to Cerulean is through Mt. Moon, so I assume you will be heading that way?" Flint asked, looking at Ivory quizzically. Brock's little brothers and sisters have long since finished eating so Ivory, Flint and Brock (whom was washing dishes as they spoke) was left in the kitchen alone.

"Yeah, Brock explained to me that security is very tight around main roads and such, so he agreed to escort me to Mt. Moon and help me through the beginning. He'll communicate Misty to help me through the end. But in the middle, I'm alone." Ivory explained.

"No, you won't be. As long as the poke'balls are clasped to your belt, you will never be alone. Don't forget that," Brock said, stopping his chore at the moment.

"I'm sure either of us would be happy to tag along with you the rest of the way, but we must stay here and help our city however way we can." Flint added, looking at her.

"It's all right, I'm used to being with pokemon and myself." Ivory stated.

"That's the spirit."

_Ring! Ring! Ring! _Brock picked up a strange thing Ivory recognized as a poke'gear as well. Brock clicked on 'Talk' and walked out of the room.

"Must be from a gym leader, anyway, Brock told me you had a poke'gear." Flint said, Ivory nodded as she pulled it off from around her neck and laid it down.

"Yeah, but the map section is out of commission…" Ivory replied, Flint took it and fondled with it a bit.

"This won't be easy to fix, it seems all the controls are working in top form…" Flint said, she nearly impaled him when he started taking it apart. "Whoa…no wonder it won't work…"

"Father, there's a problem…" Brock said as he came back inside the kitchen with the poke'gear off in his hands.

"Indeed, look at this. It seems that the parts controlling the map in this have stopped, nothing's damaged. I say a Psychic of some sort has paralyzed these parts. But why? If someone were to get a hold of it wouldn't they contact the numbers on this thing? If so, this person – _Marina Dani _– isn't really worried about her poke'gear connections…" Flint explained as he put it back together and handed it back to Ivory.

"I'm afraid we have worse conflicts on our hands, Fuchsia is under siege." Brock said, Ivory snorted.

"Unless you were born this morning or have been living in a box your whole life, you would know the WHOLE region of Kanto IS under siege." Ivory responded back sarcastically. Brock sent her an annoyed glare.

"Be serious, the gym led by Kouga, he's the gym leader. Is completely blockaded, no one can get in or out. Team Rocket is currently and maybe possibly searching underground for hidden exits and entrances. Also they're ransacking resident abodes and for some reason are completely turning the Safari Zone inside out." Brock explained grimly.

It was then did Ivory remember the map back at the Viridian Forest's entrance building, the map…there was large black 'X' over the Safari Zone…

"I don't know if this will help, but when I was entering Viridian Forest, in the entrance building there was a large Kanto map framed on the wall. The glass was broken and there was a large black 'X' on the Safari Zone." Ivory said, Brock and Flint looked at her.

"Really?" Flint said, with a touch of shock in his tone, Ivory nodded.

"I didn't get it, but I didn't have much time to observe it any further since Rockets were rounding the door. Waiting for some guy named Tyson…" Ivory explained, that snapped Brock's attention towards her.

"Tyson? Of Team Rocket? No way…I haven't heard about him for years…" Brock said, running a hand through his spiky hair.

"Who is he? I know he's of Team Rocket, but do you know more?" Ivory asked.

"Of course, back when we were traveling through Johto, we came across a red gyarados in the Lake of Rage. During that time Team Rocket was trying to capture it for research, the leader of the whole program was Professor Sebastion. But his second-in-command was the Team Rocket Executive Tyson." Brock answered, Ivory's mind recalled something like that, back in Mahogany Town.

* * *

"_Grandpa, was there really a red gyarados in the Lake of Rage?" a younger version of Ivory asked as she stood hand-in-hand with her grandfather at the edge of the lovely lake that stood before them. Few magicarp swam up to the surface to greet them, then swam away. Ivory even spotted a pair of large, narrowed eyes stare up at her. She blinked, they were gone soon after._

"_Indeed, back when it still inhabited this area a young boy came with two of his friends and tried to help it. Team Rocket at the time were trying to capture the poor beast." Her grandfather answered._

"_Why was it red?" Ivory asked._

"_My theory is that Team Rocket created a machine that gave off a sound that forced the once docile magicarp into evolving. I say for that gyarados that the evolution did not go as planned and he suffered with the pain and agony for a while, coiled up at the bottom of the lake. Possibly hoping for someone or something to save it…" the elderly man replied._

"_They were forced to evolve? That's mean…why did they do that?" Ivory asked._

"_They're greedy people, hungry for power and think of pokemon like we think of computers." The man replied._

"_That's even meaner! They're just like us!"_

"_I completely agree with you, in fact, that was just how those three thought of that red gyarados. When it came time to fighting Team Rocket off of it, they poured their souls into freeing it. Eventually they did and Team Rocket was forced to flee from the power combined with the Elite Four champion, Lance." _

"_Who were they?"_

"_My memory isn't as good as it used to be, but I remember them. Their names were Misty, Brock, and Ash Ketchum."_

"_They were great and powerful weren't they?" Ivory asked brightly._

"_Indeed they were, they taught me how special pokemon were too."_

"_So…the gyarados was red because it was forced to evolve right? So were all the gyaradoses red?" Ivory asked, her grandfather chuckled._

"_No, we only supposed it was him because one, his evolution alone did not go right and well, there was that random theory about the gyarados being angry…"_

"_That's silly," Ivory giggled.

* * *

_

"I'll keep an eye out for him, any pokemon you know he owns?" Ivory asked, Brock shrugged.

"People, especially Team Rocket change their pokemon every now and then like normal trainers – not that I'm contrasting them – but I battled a fearow of his…" Brock answered, Ivory nodded.

"When do we leave?" Ivory asked, seriousness clouding her words.

"As soon as I go to the museum, an employee called me earlier while we battled. Wanted me to see something about some kind of pokemon, thought you would like to see it." Brock said.

"All right, a museum! Haven't been to one for ages!" Ivory blurted out childishly, she grinned. Brock and Flint exchanged expressions that were…a quick change in attitude. "What pokemon is it?"

"We'll find out when we get there," Brock said, finishing up.

About ten minutes later after several good-byes from the younger brothers and sisters, Brock and Ivory left the house, both in normal clothing. Brock insisted that they did that, he pointed out that if they were cloaked, it would gain more suspicion than when they were normal everyday attire. Besides, people he knew would help them if they were being chased down by Team Rocket.

"This way," Brock said, pointing down a path.

"Everything is so quiet," Ivory pointed out, Brock smiled nervously.

"That's why I'm kinda anxious. As soon as all this mayhem is gone, we can all walk freely without fear all over again." Brock replied, putting his hands in his pocket. Ivory looked away and at the seemly frozen houses, everything was not only quiet, but still. Everything was like it was at absolute zero.

It was creepy…

Whenever someone would say city, most people imagine a pretty busy with a lot of hustle and bustle but…this was way far from it. It should have been a ghost town.

Without realizing it, Ivory stopped as something caught her eye. It was a window, veiled by a pink curtain. She slowly noticed it was pulled over slightly, a pair of eyes looked at her from it. It was a small girl; she stared at Ivory eagerly, like she somehow knew she was a pokemon trainer just by looking at her. No one dressed as strange as one, they all wanted to have their own title, own name to make for themselves, therefore they look as unique as their inner selves would let them.

Ivory made a small wave with a big grin towards the girl, she silently gasped and whisked away. Ivory blinked, were people _afraid _of trainers?

_Well yes, of course! Any trainer had always had an alliance with Team Rocket! _A voice inside her head told her, she sighed. She forgot about that for a minute…she was probably going to be disliked by the common folk for a while…but what about afterwards? The bad never leaves, it's easier to spread than get rid of it while good is hard to spread, but easy to take. Why couldn't it be the other way around?

"Are you in a daze or something?" Brock asked, she snapped back to reality to discover she was quite a way from Brock.

"Sorry! Coming!" Ivory shouted back as she ran towards him.

"What was it?" Brock asked as she caught up and they began walking again.

"That house," Ivory pointed at the one with the small girl staring at her.

"Oh, little Nora's house. She was only three when Team Rocket came, and just like her parents, she's shy and docile, she had never been outside the house since that day two years ago." Brock explained.

"Sad…" Brock only nodded in agreement.

"Even sadder, her family is convinced that pokemon are as bad a Team Rocket now." Brock added.

That was indeed very much worse…

It made Ivory want to cry and run back to Nora's house and beg her to love pokemon, there was simply nothing better than being with them. Maybe being in the arms of a family that loved you, but raising and training pokemon of your own. It wasn't the same…not at all…

"You're dazing off again," Brock chuckled.

"Sorry,"

"Nah, it's okay. You have just begun and you're already full of thoughts. It's great that you're actually thinking things through. Ash hardly did," Brock added with a grin. "He always loved battling and pokemon, when he finally faced off against the Elite Four, of course going through as many leagues as possible. And when he battled…you could tell, he was meant to be champion." Ivory watched Brock, she wondered what it felt like, to lose a close friend…she couldn't…and when she did think of it, it too, made her depressed…

"I'll help look for him too, and when I do find him, I'll bring him back. It's a promise!" Ivory declared, hitting Brock on the back with her palm.

"Ugh…you got an arm there," Brock moaned with a hint of amusement. "I thank you for your cooperation, but there isn't much else to do but wait and hope he shows up you know?" Ivory smiled.

"What's the point in waiting when all you're doing is sitting at home and training your pokemon when what you really want to do is get out there and search to no ends for you pal?" Ivory asked.

"Shh…don't talking about pokemon or anything of the sort out here," Brock warned, she sighed.

"And of course fight for your civil rights," she growled, he chuckled.

"I don't simply train my pokemon hour to hour and day by day, I'm protecting and caring for my family. I know that would be what Ash would want me to do, instead of bringing harm upon myself for his sake, I think he would prefer me to do what I know I can do. Getting what I'm saying?" Brock asked, Ivory shrugged.

"Eventually," Ivory replied.

"When you find a travel buddy, I'm sure you'll come to understand it." Brock said, "Also, I would like to welcome you to the Pewter City Museum!" Brock said, standing aside and revealing to Ivory, the large building that was hidden from the front of him from Ivory. She found herself staring at it. Kameko and Aldara waking up from inside their balls.


	3. Mt Moon Escape

**Chapter Three - - - Mt. Moon Escape**

"It's not as big as I imagined it would be," Ivory stated as he led her up the stairs and to the front doors.

"It's a pokemon museum so hence, there isn't much left of it. Even some of the workers and scientists here gave in to Team Rocket and joined them, completely out of fear. There's only a few left that stayed behind and live in this place. One of them, Joyce Barber is a good friend of mine. The day Team Rocket took over was her first year of her career, at the time she was getting along quite nicely with everyone else. Here, we have to go around this way. The front's all locked up…" Brock said, Ivory noticed boards of wood nailed to the front doors from the inside with chain at the handles.

"C'mon," Brock said quietly, she eagerly followed. For some reason, she felt like she was being watched…

"Here," They went through some bushes and Ivory spotted a side-door that was equally barricaded.

"Are you sure someone still stays here?" Ivory asked uncertainly.

"Yep, come here every now and then to deliver her groceries, she hates going outside now you know?" Brock said as they went up to the door and he knocked softly with the side of his right hand. "Joyce! Rock with friend!"

"_Rock with friend_?" Ivory repeated, Brock shrugged.

"In case anyone is listening." Brock said, obviously referring to Team Rocket. But how would that help them if they were watching them right now, all they had to do was barge right on in…

Ivory jumped when she found another pair of eyes stare at her, a whole face she could see however. It was a pale woman with violet hair brought back in a long French-braid and weary silver eyes.

"Ah Brock, and you are?" she opened the door with ease, it became clear that she was only faking people out with the boards (that were actually _glued _to the door). Ivory looked at Joyce.

"My name is Ivory Koguu ma'am," Ivory answered, Joyce smiled.

"So you're that trainer Brock told me about," Joyce said, Ivory looked up at Brock questionably.

"We'll talk about it inside," Brock said as he placed a hand on Ivory back and hurried her in, shutting the door behind himself. "I call her on her own poke'gear at least five times a week, mostly about news from the 'Outside' or daily things." Ivory nodded in understanding, in a place like this, how was a phone capable of working?

"So why are we here then? I don't see you carrying any groceries," Ivory pointed out, Joyce laughed.

"Didn't tell her eh Brock?" Joyce asked with mild amusement.

"Thought you would like to explain most of it," Ivory looked from one eager face to the other. She found it hard to believe she just met them.

"Well, all right. It's this way, found it just the other day when I was doing a bit of organizing." Joyce said as she led them out of the tiny back room they were in.

_Oh yes, marvelous job… _Ivory thought sarcastically as she fond herself along with Joyce and Brock a room that appeared to have had a tornado disaster.

"Where's Caleb?" Brock asked as he jumped over a broken cashier. Ivory made her way through piles of trash, Joyce must have hidden well through this raid…and cobwebs were just about everywhere, Joyce must have done the exact opposite of 'organizing'.

"With it," Joyce answered as she came to a door, slowly she opened it and then opened it wide enough for them to come in. "Hurry," Joyce motioned for them to hurry inside; she instantly shut it after Brock.

"What is it?" Brock asked, turning to look at her.

"Oh nothing, must have been my paranoia," Joyce replied.

"What was it Joyce?" Brock asked, Joyce shrugged.

"Thought I heard footsteps, but I hear things I shouldn't nowadays…" Joyce said, Brock however, still fondled with a poke'ball at his waist, Ivory itched for one of her own as well. She was getting uneasy now that Joyce mentioned it, if not before she entered the building. "This way…"

Carefully they treaded through another dirtied room, Ivory and Brock constantly on the lookout. Ivory had to wonder how the woman lives with this, no pokemon, no noise, only with one other person? Being alone with all those memories of _that day_…

"Caleb? They're here," Joyce said to no one Ivory could see, but when she opened a door and a bit of light streamed through the widening crack, Ivory saw the aged man named Caleb clearly. He was balding but there was still a bit of white hair around his scalp with a mustache under his nose. You could tell however, that he was smiling when his eyes fell on the young trainer and gym leader.

"Ah…Brock, nice to see you again. You must be Ivory Koguu I assume," Caleb greeted, shaking Ivory's hand and giving Brock a warm pat on the back. "I suppose Joyce told you all about what I came across. It's been here the whole time and we haven't discovered anything peculiar about it till just a few days ago…" Ivory looked at Brock, he was grinning ear to ear.

"What?" Ivory managed to ask, as Joyce and Brock seemed frozen at the time.

"You see this?" Caleb picked up something and turned around and showed it to her, he revealed in his hand a round, smooth amber piece, something was frozen inside – a bug perhaps?

"This is _Amber_, a fossilized remnant of sap with what I suspect as Pokemon DNA from over a million to 5.2 billion years ago. I can't detect the exact date however, but the lab on Cinnabar should provide you with what information there is on it." Caleb explained, Ivory's eyebrows went in two different directions.

"What's it to me? And why are you all smiling like that?" Ivory growled, looking from one person to the other. She felt extremely left out on something…

"Don't you get it dear? As soon as Brock met you and you defeated him, he knew you would be the one." Caleb said, his eyes twinkling.

"Uhhh…" Ivory looked blank.

"We want you to deliver this tot he lab on Cinnabar along your travels," Joyce explained quite promptly.

"Ohhh…that'll all? No sweat, I just need to figure out how to get to Cerulean in one piece and then so on and so forth. There is no concern over me to get to Cinnabar now is there?" It was no mystery to them that she was just being sarcastic, Ivory beamed. "Sure, I'll do that." _No one lightens up anymore…_

"Excellent!" Caleb rejoiced.

"Not so loud sir," Joyce scolded, Caleb muttered an apology.

"But we would feel more comfortable if you trained a bit more you know? You were almost killed by Team Rocket if I hadn't come along." Brock said.

"I can make it all out myself I assure you-"

"No, that rescue was by complete luck! You were luck that Onix and I were tunneling that day," Brock explained firmly. "We would all be very much more comfortable about your survival if you stayed for a bit and trained up a level or two." Ivory started.

"What? I didn't get all the way from Pallet and through Viridian by chance you know! I've got instincts and they're quite-"

"Don't be so naïve, we know you're young, I know I'm young. But I've done face-to-face battles with Team Rocket before; back then they were hardly as dangerous as they are today. They didn't have power back then but they as sure as hell do now, so please, just do this for us." Brock stated sternly, Ivory sighed. Knowing all three pair of eyes was on her. Inside their balls, Kameko and Aldara sighed, knowing what was going to happen.

"Fine, if it'll make you happy." Ivory agreed dully; defeated. They all let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you young lass," Caleb said. "Now…you better get going." He took her hand and put the Amber in it.

She closed her fingers around it.

* * *

"Sorry you didn't get to see much of the museum," Brock apologized as they walked back to the Pewter gym. Ivory sighed again, throwing her arms behind her head.

"Whatever…"

That night Ivory safety assumed that Brock knew she was going to bed as he tucked in his family along with Flint. Both wished her a good night and she shut the door and locked it. Ivory hurried to her bed and placed her emo bag on it.

_I can't stay…thanks though… _She quickly jotted down a thank you note on paper and folded it up and placed it on her pillow as she then sat down on the bed. She would wait till the rest of the lights went out and Brock and Flint were deep in slumber. She would leave then…

Unnoticed.

Eventually, the faintest light was put out and footsteps went dead as the night wore on. Thankfully Ivory's energy had yet to diminish and she carefully opened her window, the emo bag swung over one shoulder. Kameko and Aldara's balls strapped to her belt. As she climbed out and shut the window the best she could from the outside, she began scaling the roof for the tree not far from the rain pipe.

She remembered what Richard told her, Team Rocket scouted the areas after dark. She sincerely felt like a Nina there in the shadows of the crevices of the roof. It felt awesome!

She grabbed hold of the skinny tree that swayed slightly with the breeze the night gave. Firmly putting her legs around it she began climbing down. Keeping her ears and eyes on full alert. Thankfully she wore mostly black.

With hardly any effort, she dropped down the rest of the way and landed clumsily against the ground, gaining her balance she stood still. Listening and watching for anything out of the ordinary. She didn't want to catch attention and stir up trouble when she was just now escaping from a gym!

Silently, she hurried around the corner and behind some bushes, she herself felt like a Rocket for a minute there, scouting; seeing if the path was clear she zoomed across to another batch of bushes. Free of those cowardly criminals here too. Her luck was at its top notch after all!

For the next forty minutes it was like this, quiet, and still. Shockingly, Ivory found the beginning of Route 3 without as much as a sinister pair of Rockets in sight!

_Maybe this journey won't be any harder than any other normal pokemon trainer after all! _Ivory thought hopefully as she looked around again for Team Rocket. When she neither heard nor saw anything, she made her way out of the bushes, but almost at once, did footsteps come to her ears.

"Hurry it up! We are to be at Mt. Moon by midnight tonight! No excuse to tardiness!" a gruff voice shouted, Ivory dived back into the bushes, soon after a troop of Rockets ran by, it came to her that it was the same ones that cornered her with those camerupts. The leader the same too.

_Mt. Moon? Why are they heading there? Oh yes…security reasons… _Ivory thought with a hue of sarcasm. She watched them disappear down Route 3, she quickly pursued. The route was pretty lifeless, trainers were rumored to gather here to battle out their prized pokemon, but it didn't seem met to be. There were batches of grass, but neither wind nor pokemon disturbed their motionless state.

"You two station five, the rest of you follow me!" It was the 'RT Executive' (the leader of the troop) ordered, Ivory peeked out through the long blades of grass she had recently hid herself in. She was now in Route 4, Mt. Moon's cave entrances only about twenty-five meters away. With two measly Rockets guarding, partially asleep. They weren't suspecting a thing! Did they even think twice about who they chasing down earlier?

_As much as I feel the need to battle…I think I better stay hidden… _her thoughts were interrupted when she spotted Rockets running past her hiding place. _Or better get a move on before I am found! My best chance of doing this is knocking those two out! _She smirked, as soon as the coast was clear she strolled out of the grasses, apparently looking like an innocent by-passer.

"Hey kid! Get back home its way past curfew!" one of the Rockets (whom finally spotted her when she was ten feet away from them,) shouted. She pointed at herself and blinked innocently.

"Are you by any chance talking to me?" She asked in a sweet voice, they jumped, but recovered quickly.

"Yes we are! Scram would ya! Don't feel like callin' up the boss!" the same Rocket replied.

"Who? That guy? I just saw him pass by looking quite determined, you shouldn't go calling people back it could make him very mean!" Ivory cried out, "and if he's mean then all three of us could get in trouble! And all I want to do is get back home!"

"You live in Mt. Moon here?" the other Rocket asked, slightly confused.

"Of course not! I live in Cerulean, I accidentally got lost searching for berries a while back and discovered a cave. I grew curious and wandered inside, by the time I found a way out, I found myself in Pewter City. A bunch of you went into the cave soon after and I was scared so I came this way through Mt. Moon!" Ivory's eyes shined. The Rockets sweat-dropped.

"Well…"

"Please! My Mama must be so worried and she's sick in bed! So I'm the only one who can cook for my seven brothers and sisters that are only five or so years old! My daddy works all day so if I'm gone any longer! What'll happen to my family?" Ivory faked tears this time, the Rockets looked at one another and looked back at her, smiling very oddly. They obviously didn't smile very often…too much smirking she supposed.

"Er…go ahead, just don't let anyone see ya!" The first Rocket said.

"Oh thanks a bunch!" Ivory cried as she ran in headfirst. The Rockets looked at one another, than shrugged. Unknown to them, Ivory was anything but a harmless little berry-picker.

_They were sweet! Probably don't have enough 'Rocket spirit' in them. I wonder if they were forced to join Team Rocket… _Ivory thought as she whisked away from behind boulder to boulder.

"…If I stand here any longer I'll fall asleep standing up…" someone moaned.

"Stop whining already! I'm tired too," someone else snapped. She peeked over a small rock and spotted a couple more Rockets, armed with poke'balls at their sides. She spotted machinery behind the cavern wall they leaned against.

_Could they be looking for the moonstone? _Ivory thought.

"It shouldn't take so long to find it I mean, would a moon stone look like any other stone?" the first asked with a yawn.

"Dunno, never seen it myself. Ever since they took everything from the Pewter Museum, the only things possibly left of it all is in the labs down in Cinnabar." The other growled.

_No! _Ivory felt the bulge in her pocket where the Amber was, were there going to be any helpful scientists down there now that would help her with this? Probably not…but it was worth the struggle to find out. She was after all, curious about this possible pokemon that dwelled within it.

Ivory maximized Aldara's ball, if there was a time for battling, it was now.

"G-"

"Rocket Grunt 556 and 783! Are you chatting away again!" a voice bellowed, she stopped her arm in midair and nearly lost her balance. There were more, possibly an executive? She couldn't take on those yet! They were an upper class Rocket after all! The two Rockets stood straighter as an angry looking man appeared, big and bulky; he adorned a head full of ruffled green hair and piercing gray eyes. Ivory shivered, good thing she stopped when she did. She just hoped no one heard her…

"No sir!" they replied in unison.

"Good, I already dealt with the mangy mutts they put at this post before you two," he said, throwing a poke'ball up and down in his right hand, the other on his hip. "I don't want to waist anymore of my energy on you! Now shut up and do what you came here to do!"

"More like forced to do…" one muttered.

"What was that?" the executive growled.

"Nothing sir!" the executive walked toward the Rocket, heavy footsteps echoing along the walls. He bent down and went face to face with the smaller Rocket.

"Know your place before I put you there myself Grunt," the executive hissed dangerously, the Rocket nodded quickly. Seeming satisfied, the executive's back went straight and he walked back around the cavern wall. Ivory sat down on her rear, thinking.

_Now how am I going to get around them? Maybe staying behind to train with Brock was a good idea…but it's too late now. I certainly don't feel like sweet-talking those Rockets again if I decide to come back… _

Silently, she sat there. She heard all of it, the two Rockets whispering to each other in hopes that they wouldn't be heard and the executive not too far from them grunting and growling to himself about 'stupid plan strategies' and 'having no idea what they're doing' sort of junk.

She was sure she was going to sleep till a loud beeping awoke her from her deep thinking and the two Rockets from talking. It was the executive's phone.

"Yeah? Team Rocket Executive Rico speaking," the executive greeted gruffly. "WHAT! THIS HAPPENED WHEN? OH SO YOU DIDN'T THINK OF TELLING ME!"

If she wasn't awake before Ivory was now as she was now on full alert and planted on her feet and hands, ready to bolt if necessary. The two Rockets fiddled with their guns, looking nervous and twitchy.

"Yeah! I kinda figured they would head this way!" TRE Rico continued to shout Ivory grimaced. "I'm have the troops ready!" there was a loud bang Ivory figured was the receiver hitting the rest of it as TRE Rico slammed his fist against something.

Wires connected to lights that Ivory hadn't spotted before blared red and gave off a horrid sound! Ivory slammed herself against the wall; there were Rocket troops heading from directions she couldn't distinguish apart from the noise. She could only hope no one would see her among the boulders.

"ALERT! ALERT! Everyone to Mt. Moon stations at once!" the alarm bellowed through the cave halls. Hundreds of thousands of feet passed her, thankfully no one seemed to have come across her yet. Kameko and Aldara squirmed within their poke'balls. Ivory then realized, she had to get out of there. It certainly sounded like a battle; an angry one out for blood too as seething Rockets ran passed. When no one else came and with the alarm still going, Ivory stood up and looked around. Everyone had deserted their posts and went for the entrances to Mt. Moon, she could see several backs to her, but she did not see any executives.

Could they be in the front or were they planning a strategy from somewhere high or out of sight?

But she was willing to take the chance; it was either stay behind and possibly be killed or run for it for the chance of survival? The latter sounded good to her. With one glance back at the backs of the Rockets she leaped over boulders and went running past the cavern walls, no was there, and something shiny caught her eye. She stopped; whatever caught her attention was gone. She shrugged and hurried on.

She heard noises from Rockets shouting and pokemon crying out as she ran pass hall by hall, they were everywhere! And every one of them led to a guarded exit! She couldn't simply dig out of here!

_A ladder? _Ivory spotted a rusty ladder bolted to the floor and up to a hole in a wall, well, she could climb to the top and climb down towards Cerulean…if it was possible. But her luck was still high, hopefully not going too low too fast…

_I'll take my chance! _She ran to the ladder and began climbing it. When she came to the hole and she looked above, no one. She hopped up and looked around more closely; it was a lab of some sort. A pokemon lab…she spotted many pre-evolved and evolved pokemon locked in glass cages, all asleep or simply frozen in laying position. When she came closer, she paled.

She backed away all the way till she nearly fell down the hole she came up from, she was going to be sick…

_They're-they're…oh gawd! _She turned around, holding her stomach and mouth. Those weren't cages! Those pokemon were wired within glass cases!

Dead.

Disgusting… 

What were they doing? What were they hoping to achieve through this inhumane act? Daring to turn around, she looked at them once more. They were pokemon like sandshrew, zubat and even a clefairy…all dead within those cases. But lined alone the back against the walls were cages, none of them were occupied but one. Slowly she walked around the cases, holding her mouth at the same time and approaching the cage. Her fingers rightly closed around the bars as she peered in.

It certainly wasn't dead, but it was shivering.

A small ball of brown fur. It seemed to be only a baby. Ivory looked around, there had to be keys somewhere…there was a padlock on it.

But where could they be?

"He he…so you discovered our pokemon lab? Did you enjoy your visit?" a slick voice asked.

Ivory jerked around with Kameko's ball in hand.

"Who are you? What are you doing to this place? What have you done to these pokemon?" Ivory shouted questions at the man; his black hair slicked back with a rat-like face and a lab coat. On first sight, she wanted to strangle him.

"Pardon, but I do agree that introductions are appropriate. My name is Professor Sebastion, I am the leader of this whole Mt. Moon unit." The man said, Ivory hissed. This was the man behind that Lake of Rage incident not too long ago.

"You're name? I would like to know it before you are executed." The professor asked.

"Yeah right! You're acting like I'm going to tell you! Go Kameko! Bubble!" Ivory cried as she threw her turtle's poke'ball.

"_Squirtle!_" Kameko cried, the Professor gasped as the pokemon lunged forward, releasing a jet of a more powerful blast of bubbles then when she faced off against Onix. She was leveling up.

"Knock him out Kameko! One more Bubble!" Ivory ordered, Kameko launched another attack, this time the professor tried to scramble away but the attack caught him by surprise, he stumbled and his head made impact with the rocky walls, he fell to the ground unconscious.

"Awesome job Kameko now keep a look out for a minute!" Ivory said as she hurried over to the professor and searched his coat. "Ah ha!" she pulled out a silver ring of keys and hurried back over to the cage.

"_Squirtle?_" Kameko asked.

"They're all dead but this one Kameko," Ivory stated in a disgusted manner as she tested out each key into the padlock. She didn't need to look to see Kameko wince as she saw her fellow pokemon race lay dead as test specimens on the tables. "We can't do anything for them, I'm sorry but we can only save one and this one is it." A soft click penetrated the stillness and the padlock opened.

The small shivering ball froze; two large ears stood up, but weakly lay back down. Large eyes blinked up at her, it was indeed an eevee pup.

"Hey there little guy, yep…it's a he…" Ivory stated as the eevee's tail swished warningly. "It's all right…calm down…erm…what should I call him…eh! No…that won't work…how about…Panther? Sounds good to me you know? So how about it Panther? You come with us and you'll get out of here, sound good?" it was still just a pup, whether it knew the language she spoke in didn't matter as Ivory was taking the eevee whether it liked it or not.

"…" Panther stared at Ivory with those big eyes, calming down but greatly shaken.

"Come on…there's a good boy," she picked up the tiny pokemon and wrapped him safely within her jacked, the eevee remained silent, but eyed her fingers carefully.

"They're called fingers," Ivory said as she twiddled them in front of his eyes, he continued to watch them with interest.

"_Squirtle!_" Kameko cried as she rushed to her side.

"They're coming huh? All right, grab on! I don't want to recall you since I know I'm going to need you some more," Ivory as she leaned down and Kameko sat on her emo bag. Ivory ran through the passageway, the other echoed of noise.

"Hold it right there!" a voice shouted as she ran past another hallway, apparently filled with Rockets. She kept on running however.

"Halt!" the Rocket shouted.

"Fine! Have it your way! Go! Houndour! Flamerthrower!" the Rocket ordered. The loud cry from the dark dog pokemon flew to her ears, the pokemon was gaining on her and faster, did the attack attempt to reach her.

"_Squirtle!_"

_Oh yeah! I have a Water pokemon don't I? _She thought with sudden realization, but a sizzling sort of sound came to her ears, she looked down at Kameko, Kameko had been using Water Gun this whole time? Putting out the fierce flame?

"Great Kameko! Just in time! Uh oh! They're not stopping!" Ivory pointed out as she looked around towards the running Rockets and houndour on her heels. "Look at that houndour! It's adorable!" Ivory exclaimed. "Too bad its Team Rockets…probably darkened its spirits…ugh!" Another Flamethrower raced out of the dog's mouth.

"Water Gun Kameko!" Ivory shouted, Kameko let out another surge of water, dousing out the large flame. "I know you can't keep this up for long but do your best till I think of something! Oh dear…"

"_Squirtle?_" Kameko squeaked, afraid of what shocked her trainer.

"We're kind of at a…" she felt her trainer stop after they came out of the cave, they were outside. "…dead end."

On a cliff!

Below them were the forests and if you looked up, you could see the city lights of Cerulean, they were out of Mt. Moon, but not out of the woods just yet.

Literally…

"Ugh…" she looked around frantically, hardly anything to climb down of and jumping was suicide…

"Ha ha! You can't run from us now brat!" the Rocket shouted, smirking as he and many others hurried out of the cave, the houndour growling and baring its teeth.

"Not good…huh?" Ivory blinked as she looked down.

"_Squirtle?_"

"Well, might as well. No other choice now is there?" Ivory asked no one in particular. Kameko looked at her questionably. "Don't kill me for this if this doesn't all right Kameko?"

"_Squirtle?_" Kameko looked at the edge of the cliff and back up at her trainer, then back at the cliff; she looked back up at Ivory with pleading big eyes.

"_Squirtleeeee…_"

"Sorry," Ivory said as she turned around, clutching Panther through her jacket and one hand over Kameko's shell.

"_Squirt,_"

"Well, ladies and germs! I bid you all a bad evening! Bye bye!" she jumped off the cliff, disappearing. With Kameko '_Sqqqqqqqqqquuuuuuuuuuuuuuiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrttttttllllleeeeeeee'_ ing all the way down till the Rockets hurried over to see tree leaves jerk back upwards and the bushes below close back over from the girl's impact.

"There's no way she could have survived that, it's like a five story drop." It was still dark, so none of them volunteered for the search of a possibly dead body.

"Let's go, as long as no one knows she was here…"

"What about Professor Sebastion? He saw her, who else could've knocked him out?"

"I'll think about that one, now let's hurry! The Earth Organization is still here!" the Rockets ran back inside, meanwhile back down outside of Mt. Moon…

"So who are you?"


	4. Enigmatical Stranger

**Chapter Four --- Enigmatical Stranger**

"You _jumped _not knowing _who _I _am_? You're asking for a one way ticket to meet your maker that way." The boy snapped at her as she gathered herself up and sitting back with her legs folded under her. Kameko stood up and Panther peered out from behind her jacket. Ivory blinked.

"Well, I've never met anyone outside my town before," she kept her guard up, she didn't see any league badge on him or any other symbol, therefore he could be an agent in incognito. He had dark brown hair going mostly over to the right with it going over his ears and stopping between his shoulder blades.

He wore a red knit sweater with a Russell Bomber black jacket, a pair of Moto-X Jeans with a set of three-prong belts. He showed no poke'balls, so he might not have been a trainer, but then again, any trainer not in league with Team Rocket wasn't too eager showing them off in public.

"So I hardly no anyone anywhere!" Ivory exclaimed.

"Shh! They're may be more still around, c'mon…follow me," the boy said, motioning for her to follow him along the line of bushes behind them.

"Oh, so I can trust you!" Ivory said quietly as she obeyed.

"You don't even know where we're going," the boy growled.

"Cerulean right?"

"Ugh…"

"By the way, I'm Ivory Koguu." She said, Panther at her side and Kameko following closely behind.

"Ryuu," he replied, Ivory stopped. He sounded quite gruff there, she looked at Kameko, both shrugged and she continued following him. "You might want to return that squirtle of yours, she sounds tired." Ivory was taken back once again, he was telling her what to do! He was probably only sixteen or so, she scowled. She did what he said anyway, the less pokemon out the less of their chance to be caught right? She scooped up Panther and placed him in the crook of her right arm. She followed wobbly this time, as she was only using one arm.

"You're lucky you made it through Mt. Moon, it just so happens that the Earth Organization just then decided to attack that base," Ryuu said as he stopped and looked through some bushes. His eyes scanning for something it seemed.

"Who are they?" Ivory asked, Ryuu continued crawling.

"Did you ever hear about Team Magma and Aqua?" Ryuu asked.

"Yeah, a while ago." Ivory answered.

"Well, you know that Team Magma tried to expand the land and Aqua wanted to expand the sea right? Well, not long before Team Rocket was crushed again by the pokemon champion – Ash Ketchum, he and a few of his friends were able to convince both sides that the earth was made the way it was and did not need expansion of either element. Therefore (after a long wait and battle after battle) they finally came to their senses and broke apart. Then when Ash vanished, they quickly joined together as one, creating another order, the Earth Organization. Therefore, if there were problems they could resolve it while the champion was gone." Ryuu explained as he once again checked through another bush.

"So what happened when Team Rocket took over? Did they not try to stop them?" Ivory asked.

"Yes, plenty of times. Some how Team Rocket seemed to have just gotten up and became the number one threat on this planet. Their pokemon are all fully evolved, stronger than any of their own kind." Ryuu answered.

"They're studying them, experimenting on the pokemon…that's how they did it I bet." Ivory remembered the deceased pokemon still connected to the machinery inside, Panther being the lone survivor.

"Yeah, we know." Ryuu replied as he once again checked through a bush. "We can walk now,"

"What were you looking for?" Ivory asked as they stood, noticing he was a good foot taller than she was at full height.

"That," he pointed at a house not far from where they stood behind the foliage. On the second floor was a bright, flickering light in small specks. When Ivory narrowed her eyes, she found it to an extremely tall person behind those curtains with the small specks of light.

"Are they holding candles or something?" Ivory asked, Ryuu shook his head.

"No, it's my buddy." Ryuu replied, Ivory looked up at the person again, the curtains were closed. They made their way towards the house, passing a sign along the way however, Ivory found herself in Cerulean City.

"Misty?" Ryuu shouted out as he closed the door behind them, Ivory looked around the inside of the home. It was as plain as Richard's house, hardly any valuables were set out for show, no pokemon or pokemon merchandise. It was only then did Ivory remember that the whole region was effected by Team Rocket. She wondered how many this city lost to the raids…

A pounding down the stairs brought her back to earth with a young woman about seventeen with blazing orange hair cut to her shoulders with aquatic orbs and pale skin. Her frame (she looked somewhat sickly) attired a blue robe and tied sash.

"You're Ivory Koguu aren't you?" the young woman asked, Ivory sweat-dropped. Didn't Brock say he called other gym leaders from time to time? This wouldn't look pretty if she was as temperamental as Brock claimed.

"Um…yes, why?" Ivory replied, the woman named Misty's eyes narrowed.

"Brock called last night that you would stay for an extra few weeks for special training? Why and _how _did you get here?" Misty asked, her hands on her hips. Ivory blinked, yep, quite the fireball Brock said she was.

"It's a long story…" Then she noticed Misty's eyes train on something else, Ivory followed her gaze. Panther…

"How cute, it's a baby eevee. Where'd you find him?" Misty asked, Ryuu sighed.

"I better get breakfast started." Ryuu growled as he walked away, Ivory watched him leave.

"Can I hold him?" Misty asked, she noticed Ivory looking somewhere else. "It's almost morning Ivory, and since we're awake, why not?"

"Sure…" She handed Panther to Misty, who instantly started to cuddle with him.

"You're a gym leader right?" Ivory asked, Misty blinked.

"Sure am, let me guess? You want to have a battle?" Misty asked.

"Yes," Ivory replied.

"All right, but let's plan that sometime later. First, I think Ryuu and I both want to hear what happened 'kay?" Misty stated.

"All right,"

By the time breakfast started up (in the middle of the night it seemed) Ryuu and Misty both forced Ivory to talk and explain what happened back on Mt. Moon. By the time she finished, both looked grim.

"So they saw you? That's not good, especially with pokemon…" Misty said quietly as she fed Panther.

"Dead or not it's most likely that you'll be on their wanted list," Ryuu growled, very bitter since she mentioned the experimenting on the dead pokemon in there.

"So what am I suppose to do?" Ivory asked.

"You can always get a new look," Misty suggested, "my sisters love dressing up kids."

"I'm not a kid! And what's wrong with my look?"

"You're going to have to avoid Team Rocket as much as possible now, and walking around in a state that they'll recognize you in isn't wise. Maybe cutting your hair will be a good idea." Misty thought aloud. "My sisters have been 'ones of beauty' for as long as I can remember." She didn't sound too happy saying this though.

"And a whole new wardrobe!"

"Make-up maybe!"

"Of course a new hair style!"

She didn't know what hit her till three older women than Misty spun her chair around to face them, both grinning eagerly.

"Those are my sisters," Misty muttered.

"Daisy," the woman with brighter orange hair than misty that went down to her waist with a flower behind her right ear, her eyes were a darker shade of aqua with a beauty mark underneath her right eye.

"Violet," the woman with dark azure hair with bouncy curls to her elbows, a pair of red pearls made up a hair pin along the back of her head and bright crimson eyes gazed down at Ivory.

"And Lily," the girl with pink hair that became a slim strands of curls from her shoulders down, bright colorful eyes equal to her sisters. All three looked down at Ivory, she suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

"Leave it to us!" they cried.

Only seconds later did Ivory find herself being dragged upstairs, she wondered over and over again, how she got into this mess. Nothing added up or made sense however…

"So you're the girl Brock talked about, oh dear look at that your poke'balls? Here, Lily be a dear and restore these two please? And take a look at that eevee, I don't think Misty checked him over yet," Daisy ordered as she plucked the two poke'balls from Ivory's belt and placed them in Lily's hand.

With a nod the pink-haired water flower hurried away, Daisy and Violet brought Ivory into a room and placed her on a chair.

"I'll do your hair, Violet why don't you pick out some new clothes? We'll make the ones she's wearing now second choice!" Daisy said, looking at her blue-haired sister.

When Violet left, Daisy went for the shampoos, conditioners and scissors.

"I really don't think this-"

"Don't be silly! I know exactly what I'm doing!" Daisy claimed, Ivory sweat-dropped.

_Snip! Snip! _Ivory kept her eyes closed, afraid up seeing her beloved hair drop to the floor. Compared from her thinking and Daisy's, this was for the best.

"You know, I never expected your younger sister to look so _pale_," _Shoot! Did I say that out loud! _Ivory gulped, she heard Daisy sigh.

"Yeah…she hadn't been so well for the past two years, after meeting Brock you should know that they were the best of friends way back then. It turns out – or so I think – that Misty had a crush on Ash for a long time before he battled against the Elite Four. When he finally gained the title Pokemon Champion, she thought she lost everything that he and she made during the several years of traveling together." Daisy explained.

"How do you know?"

"We may not get along on a daily basis, but we all are sisters. We share secrets like average girls – even if she is a tomboy – and to Misty and the rest of us, that was the biggest and darkest one she could ever give. We never told it to anyone, only Brock seemed to have understood without an explanation. Until you though…" Daisy measured another strand with the comb between her lips.

"Then, when he vanished. I suppose she gave up, I think…I think she blames herself for his disappearance." Daisy said, Ivory blinked. Why would she blame herself? Being the Water trainer Brock said he knew her to be went this far as to get into such a condition?

"She never told us why though, there are hundreds of possible theories to what happened after he won…" Daisy stated, then she beamed. "But then again, that was a while ago, done!"

She turned the chair around to face the mirror, Ivory gasped. Daisy laughed as she found the girl's jaw drop.

Her gray hair was no longer 'long'. But now it was cut and layered down to her shoulders, she didn't recognize herself anymore…next to that, her bangs were slid to one side. It was very awkward…

"Done! You're pokemon are happy and healthy!" Lily cried coming into the room, Aldara and Kameko's poke'balls in her hands. Soon Violet too came back inside with new attire in her arms, they both beamed at Daisy's work.

"Hurry and put these on, they'll look nice on you!" Violet exclaimed pulling Ivory away with her, both Daisy and Lily then releasing Kameko and Aldara, both playing with them.

"Here we go, if only you were older I could dress you up a lot better, but being twelve…" Violet mumbled as she laid out the clothes, Ivory stared at her.

"How did you know I was twelve?" she didn't recall telling anyone her age, Violet winked at her.

"Women intuition," Violet replied, "now get dressed, I'll wait outside. Oh, and if you ever start outgrowing any of your clothes, come back for some more we have plenty of lovely and still in fine shape handy-downs – Misty refuses to take anymore nowadays." With that, the blue-haired waterflower left. Ivory growled, trying on new clothes…always been a time of dread.

Quickly sliding her hands and arms through the Hooch Ruchie Sleeve Sweat and zipping it up then slipping her black Jean shorts on she stepped out of the room, Violet squealed excitedly, exclaiming she was adorable, especially with the new haircut.

Putting on some socks (her feet were amazingly cold) she followed Violet back to Lily and Daisy. The two had the same reaction and all three were eager to show her off to Misty and Ryuu.

A fact that made the time seem so much more dreadful…

"Misty! We're done!" Lily cried as she bounded down the stairs, followed by Violet. Misty was drinking out of a blue mug when her sisters came down; Ryuu slouched on the sofa in the other room watching something on the news.

"Really? Where is she?" Misty asked, trying to look over her sisters, only to see Daisy further away near the stairs.

"She's being difficult." Violet stated.

"She shouldn't be so shy, she's so adorable she could brag about it!" Lily claimed.

"Yeah, maybe it'll wear off as she ages…"

"We can only hope so…"

Misty sighed as she took another sip of her drink, sisters…

"Don't make me drag you! It'll be a shame to put all the hard work to ruins!" Daisy shouted out to the being-difficult Ivory.

"Fine, I'm coming…just stop whining!" Ivory replied. Misty nearly dropped her mug when Ivory slowly walked down the stairs; it was hard to believe that was the girl that came in with Ryuu not too long ago.

But then again her sisters had a knack of 'transforming' human beings like evolving pokemon.

"You're so cute Ivory," Misty agreed with her sisters, Ivory's eyes twitched as she approached the redhead.

"Hey Ryuu come in here and see Ivory!" Lily shouted, Ivory suddenly felt somewhat hot. She tried to air out her shirt as Ryuu grumbled.

"Fine, I'm coming." Ryuu responded.

"Man, he sounds just like you." Daisy stated, looking up in thought.

"Could they be long-lost siblings?" Violet asked, Misty sweat-dropped.

"Uh…no, he wouldn't be." Misty growled, "They look hardly alike, besides, Ryuu-" Misty went suddenly quiet, the room suddenly grew grim, adding more discomfort to Ivory as Ryuu opened the door.

"Whoa! Did I walk in the wrong room because surely I must have been directed to the Muk Room!" Ryuu shouted, grinning and nearly at the point of laughing on the floor. The four waterflowers sent Ryuu a glare; Daisy went as far as throwing the closest thing (an oven mit) at Ryuu's face. Dodging it he began to laugh.

Why this made Ivory turned red baffled her, did he seriously think she didn't look good or was he just teasing her? Shaking her head, she smirked.

"Actually this is the Beautifly room, the Muk room is two hallways down and three doors left." Ivory corrected mockingly, Ryuu snapped out of his rolling laughter and snorted.

"Nah, that would be Blaziken's room." Ryuu replied.

"No, the Muk room."

"Blaziken's room,"

"Muk room!"

"Blaziken's room!"

"_Muk room!"_

"_Blaziken's room!"_

"Blaziken's room,"

"Muk room – eh!" Ryuu's eyes widened as he figured out he was just tricked, the waterflowers gave each a weird look.

"Um, Ivory-chan. He meant that literally." Lily said.

"Huh?"

"There really is a blaziken room here. You see, Ryuu has a blazekin. Upstairs," Violet explained, Ivory's mind backtracked. Was that light in the upstairs window Blazekin's doing? In that case, Ryuu was a pokemon trainer!

"You mean it wasn't taken away when pokemon trainers were searched and raided?" Ivory asked, eyeing Ryuu. The waterflowers expressions darkened.

"No way, I'm one of the strongest trainers that were around at the time, I even knew Ash Ketchum too." Ryuu said before leaving the room, Ivory felt there was something really wrong.

"Did I say something I shouldn't have said?" Ivory asked, turning around and facing the four sisters.

"Actually, Ryuu has only three pokemon. He once had four, but that one was…captured by Team Rocket during the raids." Daisy said softly, Ivory's eyes widened. Panther poked his head out of around a doorframe; Ivory spotted the eevee pup and broke the silence.

"Hey boy!" Ivory cried, bending down and reaching out for him.

"_Eevee!_" Panther cried as he launched into her open arms.

"Are you feeling better?" Ivory asked as she stood up, Panther snuggling into her chest.

"_Eevee…_"

"He's just tired and cute." Misty said.

"_Squirtle!_"

"_Spearow!_" Kameko and Aldara came in; Aldara perched onto Ivory's shoulder and Kameko at her feet.

"I'm amazed they're already so attached to you Ivory-chan, where were you from again?" Daisy asked.

"I never said, from Pallet Town." Ivory answered.

"Really? You know who Deelia Ketchum is? Is she doing all right?" Misty asked, Ivory nodded to both questions.

"That's good…"

"So squirtle was your starting pokemon ne? They're strong starters, at least until you come in terms with Surge down in Vermilion. Are you heading that way after Cerulean?" Violet asked.

"Yep,"

"Then take our advice, Lt. Surge is a very powerful leader, he was even once a Team Rocket executive." Ivory looked at her in horror, she remembered the executive back at Mt. Moon, would Lt. Surge be like him?

"But he's really just a big flirt," Misty said, recalling aloud her first meeting with the guy traveling with Ash. "Mistook ME as the challenger…please! My pokemon would have been fried on the spot!" Ivory smiled.

"Are there any other leaders that were or are in Team Rockets league?" Ivory asked, the four sisters looked up in thought.

"Be careful around Koga, he's the Fuchsia City's leader. Also his daughter, Janine. Not sure about her though…pretty nice as far as I know. Then there was also Blaine but you can trust him without worrying, Sabrina's all happy now so no need to be concerned…anymore?" Misty asked.

"There was Giovanni, but we all know what happened to him." Violet stated, they all nodded. Ivory's expression darkened what a waste of space is what she thought of such 'scum'.

The conversation carried on despite the growing fatigue and fact that it was still pretty early in the morning. Calling it a 'night' the sisters wandered up to bed, Misty gave one more glimpse towards Ivory who sat in a kitchen chair still.

"Are you not coming up to bed?" Misty asked, Ivory cast her a glance.

"I don't have anywhere to sleep," Ivory replied with a tired grin.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! We placed your stuff on the third floor next to Blaziken's, that's where I'm sure you'll be safest if any trouble emerges." Misty answered, "Your pokemons' poke'balls are up there too."

"All right, thanks a lot."

"Don't mention it, 'night." The redhead waterflower said as she yawned and walked up the stairs. With a sigh Ivory looked down. Kameko had placed herself within her shell and faint snoring could be heard echoing off the walls of the shell and out of it. Aldara slouched on her shoulder and Panther rested in her hands.

"C'mon guys, bed's upstairs." Ivory said, standing up, lazily Kameko poked her head out. With another sigh Ivory bent down slowly and picked up the turtle and began up the stairs herself.

By the time Ivory got herself up to the third floor she was exhausted. Looking down the dark hall she dragged her feet to a door that was partially open. No light was emitting from it as she would have suspected if it were Ryuu's blaziken.

Cautiously, she pushed the door open wider and switched on the light. Yep, made for a human. A twin-sized bed sat in the far-left corn covered in warm blue sheets and comforter. The wallpaper was adorned with droplet-wallpaper and the carpet itself was soft and azure.

And as Misty said, her emo bag and poke'balls lay harmlessly on the bed.

If they had the energy, the pokemon would have cried for joy at the sight of the bed. But since they hardly had any left, they only jumped from Ivory's grasp and hurried to the mattress. Picking up the items and setting them against the wall, Ivory put herself in bed, hardly caring what she was wearing.

"_Squirr…_" She felt Kameko, Aldara and Panther lean against her, curling up and falling into slumber despite the light still in the room.

With a mental snarl, she disgusted the idea of getting up when she and her pokemon were already so comfortable…

A small footstep stopped in front of the door, Ivory watched as a strange-looking hand reached in and flicked the lights off, the hand vanished, the door shutting. Somehow feeling safe, Ivory herself joined her friends in dreamland…


	5. Motivation

**Chapter Five --- Motivation**

The next morning Ivory found herself in an intense conversation at the breakfast table. Daisy, Violet and Lily were bickering over whether they should paint the gym's walls turquoise or a sky blue or something of the sort. Misty was silently reading the newspaper and Ryuu was nowhere to be seen.

"G'morning people," Ivory greeted, instantly all four shot her a greeting and Daisy once more commented on their handiwork before returning to the now argument over the gym. Misty however, rolled her eyes.

She was dressed in a blue Cosmos Jersey and tight blue shorts lined with white. Her red hair down still, damp. She must have had a shower.

About twenty minutes later after a meal containing of mostly eggs and bacon, Misty led Ivory through a door, the light had already been on, revealing glass walls filled with water. Plants thrived within them, not much else.

"We used to have fish, and have public shows to help with money problems here. That was more than two years ago," Misty said, noticing Ivory's curious glance at the walls.

"What happened? I thought Team Rocket was only after pokemon and such merchandise." Ivory stated, Misty nodded.

"Yes, but they don't send their best troops to raid Ivory. It doesn't take cunning and intelligence to break into an innocent home. Bandits and such ransacked the homes, not the higher ranks. When they came here, we managed to save our pokemon, but the fish…well, they were considered the fresh _main course_ for their pokemon and themselves." Misty explained, Ivory winced. The strain voiced by Misty hurt her ears, and worse her heart. This place probably meant the world to her and has things like that happen to it, must have broken her heart.

As well as the disappearance of Ash Ketchum.

"Erm…Misty?" Ivory spoke, thinking of the pokemon champion.

"Yeah?"

"When can we battle?" she thought better of it and decided they needed some cheering up, she didn't feel like getting depressed today. Or any day for that matter. Misty smiled.

"We battle anytime you want, there's nothing I have to do today anyway. Besides, Ryuu's been wanting to see how you battle." Misty replied, Ivory blinked.

"What?"

"Yep, we both want to see how well you've been doing. If you're going to try and become a strong trainer, we might as well pick out your mistakes." Misty said as they came to a door.

"Welcome, to the Cerulean City Gym!" Misty cried out for the first time Ivory met her as she opened the door, walking in Ivory stared around in awe. Even though some of the paint has begun to peel and marks from the raids still remained, the large pool still sparkled and she joyfully noticed a dewgong swimming about. There were a couple of white platforms floating about in the pool and lights streamed above her. It seemed almost like a gym.

Then not far away, there was another room; a large window revealed it to be a weight-lifting room where she spotted Ryuu and another pokemon, a blaziken.

"Wow…this is so cool." Ivory muttered, eyeing everything with great interest. She took notice of the bleachers not too far off.

"We held performances and battles here, it's funny how I still hate being dressed as a mermaid but enjoyed it all the same." Misty stated, scanning the area like she had never seen it before. Her gaze seemed far away and transfixed.

"I don't mean to pry but-" Ivory was cut off by a stern voice.

"Well, you woke up. 'Bout time," it was Ryuu; he walked out of the weight room with a towel around his shoulders and a tight shirt and sweatpants. Ivory growled, stupid Ryuu. Misty grinned as she looked over at the blaziken trainer.

"Would you like to take her for a bit?" Misty asked, Ivory looked from Misty to Ryuu. Ryuu smirked; she didn't like that smirk. It seemed to be saying 'you're dead' or something. But what about that battle she was going to have with Misty?

"Sure would, I think we should give her a fighting chance before she faces off against you, as your pokemon are quite at a high level." Ryuu stated, Ivory blinked. That's right, it must've been hard for gym leaders to catch more pokemon and with growing danger each day, the pokemon are forced to grow stronger to survive and protect their trainers.

_My pokemon have to become stronger then! _She thought, she looked determined as Ryuu turned his gaze on her.

"Well, come on we're all waiting for you. Want to join us then Misty?" Ryuu asked, looking at the Cerulean gym leader, she shook her head.

"No, I already did my laps. Right now I need to do some 'research'." Misty said, Ryuu nodded then she left. Ivory suddenly became nervous as she realized Ryuu was grinning insanely.

"If you hate me now, wait till tonight." Ryuu said in a haughty tone, then he motioned for her to follow him. "C'mon," Gulping, she followed.

When she entered the weight room she spotted not only Blaziken, but also a sandslash, a nidoking and a houndoom. All stopped what they were doing to see the new girl that appeared out of the night. Ivory stared back, not as confidently though.

"Now release you're pokemon, while I train you they will train them." Ryuu stated, nervously she nodded.

A few seconds later Kameko, Aldara and Panther joined them. With a quick introduction the pokemon took in Ivory's and Ryuu stole away the younger trainer.

"You're going to need to change," Ryuu stated simply as his pokemon showed her pokemon what each machine was and how they were used. They looked as nervous as Ivory was.

"Into what?" Ivory asked irately. He smirked as he held up a sleeveless jersey and a pair of shorts. "Fine, where?" she asked as he handed them to her.

"Here."

"Excuse me,"

"Here."

"I don't think so,"

"Over there," Ryuu said in between fits of laughter as she scowled at him. Scurrying away towards the restroom, Ryuu heard an almost non-audible 'Pervert' under her breath.

"Hurry now!" he said, she glared back at him before she disappeared behind the door.

"All right," he said fifteen minutes later after she got out of the bathroom completely dressed for a workout. He was now with her over the bench press, something she did not like because one: She was under him so she could see his smirking face three feet away and two: the weight was _sneering _at her. That's right, it was planning on crushing her bones and squeezing the fragile life out of her.

"Don't look so tense, it's easier if you just relax." He said with a grin, playfulness dancing in his eyes. She frowned up at him as she gripped the bar.

_He wants me to die…I just know it. _She thought, _Chummy, stupid, idiotic, smug little – _

"Let's begin, you lift it off the rack and push it up and down for about five minutes then you can lift it back up and place down. Seem easy enough?" Ryuu asked.

"Let's just get this over with," he smirked.

**A minute later…**

_He DOES want me to die! _"Am I done yet?" she heaved for the tenth time as she lifted the bar. He leaned against the wall, eyeing his watch.

"You have four more minutes."

"ARGGGGGG!"

"Now I know time flies fast when you're having fun, meaning that no one looks at the clock when they're doing something entertaining. So maybe it goes slower if you stare at it."

"RRRRRYYYYYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Her pokemon didn't have it any easier, only Panther, whom adapted to the treadmill rapidly as she was still a baby, therefore speed would be most easily learned by a smaller body of an eevee. Kameko and Aldara on the other hand, did not have as much 'fun' as their younger teammate.

Forced to lift dumb bells Aldara's hollow-boned body never felt heavier and Kameko lifted a weight bigger than her!

Needless to say Ryuu was right, she did hate him more by the end of the day. Never had she felt so sore.

The morning that followed however, was a living nightmare.

"I can't mooooove…" she moaned, Aldara, Kameko and Panther groaned in chorus with her, not wanting to twitch let alone work out ever again. Yet Ryuu nor his pokemon and even the Cerulean sisters wouldn't have it. Ryuu volunteered every morning since that day forward to help stretch her, she was miserable.

Instead of gaining the battle Ivory wanted badly since she arrived, throughout the week she was put through a series of exercises with every single one of them. That day Ryuu made her run laps around the pool (which was bigger from every angle) and the next day even more laps around the pool. About another three days went by when finally they woke her up in the middle of the night.

"Hiz zafter vidnife zo avay…" (It's after midnight go away) she moaned as she buried her head into her pillow after looking at the alarm clock Ryuu ever so generously gave her. It was only a reminder of the torture he put her through every morning…

"C'mon, we need to show you something." It was Misty, making the situation a little more comfy. Groggily, Ivory forced herself out of bed and returned her pokemon to their poke'balls. "Get dressed," she ordered, unwillingly Ivory did so then followed her out of the room and eventually out of the building.

"Where are we going?" Ivory asked, slowly waking up.

"You'll soon see," Misty stated as she led her through a dense part of the woods. Eventually it came to a small light flickering that soon erupted into more. All around her, Ivory found herself in a battle arena.

"When did this get here?" Ivory asked, Misty rounded around to look at her.

"Ryuu wants to battle you," Misty stated, Ivory then looked to her right, noticing Ryuu standing glumly on the opposite side of the field.

"Are you nuts! His pokemon will crush mine!" Ivory whispered loudly, staring Misty straight in the eye.

"They might, but I told you this before. We want to see how well you are at fighting," Misty stated. "Go on, he won't seriously hurt you."

"Wow…that's _comforting_." She growled as Misty pushed her out onto the arena.

"Finally," Ryuu said out, he looked a little tired as well. With a sigh Ivory went to the other end and glared at Misty, who was referring.

"This is a one-on-one pokemon battle, when a trainer's pokemon is unable to fight the opponent wins. Begin!" Misty cried, Ryuu smirked as he revealed a maximized poke'ball.

"Go! Sandslash!" Ryuu cried, throwing the poke'ball. Out bounded the spiky pokemon; it cried its name and looked around for its opponent.

"A Ground-type huh? Fine, go! Kameko!" Ivory yelled, throwing her ball. Unfortunately, unlike the wide-awake sandslash, Kameko was fast asleep on the battlefield.

"Kameko!"

"Sandslash use Slash!" Ryuu shouted, the pokemon lunged at the tiny turtle. With a _swipe_ the claws made contact with the shell of Kameko. Sending her flying with a cry escaping from her mouth.

"Kameko! You need to wake up – eh? You are awake!" Ivory cried out happily as Kameko quickly overturned herself and got to her feet, seething she glared at Sandslash. "Now use Water Gun!" a new attack Kameko had most recently learned as she rose in levels Kameko lunged a water blast as the Sandslash.

Although, it seemed strange the attack hit right on the spot. This sandslash was at a high level, she knew that (mostly because it was Ryuu's) and wondered why he didn't order his pokemon to dodge.

Was he taking it easy on her?

_Evil person! Very evil Ryuu! _She thought as she clenched her teeth.

"_Squirtle!_" Kameko cried as she finished the attack and eyed her challenger, Sandslash shook off drops of water before it too stared back.

"Sandstorm Sandslash!" Ryuu cried.

"_Slash!_" the pokemon began to spin on tiptoe, winds grew around it as well as sand and dirt and so on.

"Withdraw Kameko!" Ivory shouted, Kameko quickly drew herself into her hard shell, in an instant after her shell was whipped from the ground, her shell was seen to circle overhead. Eventually as the winds grew down and died, her shell came tumbling down and landed with a 'thud'. When she finally came out, swirls took the place of her eyes.

"Kameko!"

"Kameko is unable to battle, the winner is Ryuu!" Misty cried, Ivory ran to Kameko waved a hand in front of her face. She was just dizzy and low on HP.

"You did well, return." She said quietly, returning Kameko to her ball.

"I suppose the exercises weren't a complete loss after all. Good job," It was Ryuu and he offered her a hand, eyeing the hand with suspicion she picked herself up.

"Thanks," she replied roughly.

"Ah, don't be like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like _that_!" he pointed out; she blink then swiveled her eyes towards the approaching Misty.

"Not bad for a first time against Ryuu, you actually kept a cool head." Misty stated, "Now we can work on that potential."

"Huh?" she was completely clueless. Were they just testing her?

"It's been a week since you came Ivory, but it didn't seem like you were motivated so we wanted to see what did motivate you." Ryuu said.

"And?"

"We discovered giving you a goal would be the best way to train you." Misty said with a small grin, "And putting you up against Ryuu was the best way to see if that goal was to see whether you really liked to battle."

"But I DO like battling." Ivory replied, Misty nodded.

"Of course, we've known that from the start when you wanted to battle me. You just didn't appear to be prepared." Misty explained. Ivory nodded in understanding it was true that she couldn't defeat Misty even if her life depended on it at this point in time. The gym leaders had to become more powerful to survive against the wrath of Team Rocket. So far they've been doing a good job.

"It's been a while since a trainer stopped by the gym and request for a battle. The last one I battled in the gym was against Ash, that was a very long time ago, then when I came back to take over the gym no one even came then and even if I did get a challenge, no trainer last more than the first pokemon. It's nice to have a good challenge and to see the vigor you posses, so therefore, I present to you the Cascade Badge." Misty said, revealing a blue water-drop-like badge.

"Wait a minute, I didn't even battle-"

"There is no need for you to, I know you have ben looking forward to battling me. You're just not ready yet, by the time you reach Vermilion you will be strong enough to face Lt. Surge, I just know it. Besides, you deserve it."

"How?"

"By putting yourself through our work-out schedules we set for you. Oh and just to let you know, Brock joined in the scheduling, he didn't like how you ran off like that so we let him do most of it." Ryuu stated with a snicker.

"_How could you?_" Ivory asked, fake-crying.

"Well, he was pretty mad…" Misty said with narrowed eyes, "he probably wanted to keep an eye on you and you vanishing like that, well, he doesn't take things like that very likely."

"And neither will I," Ryuu said, Ivory looked up at him.

"Huh?"

"Is that your response to everything?"

"What?"

"_Huh?_" Ryuu mimicked.

"Shut up,"

"He'll be traveling with you." Misty stated dully, she watched as Ivory's eyes widened.

"Why?"

"Because you need me,"

"That sounded really off," she growled, he smirked in reply. "Really off…"

"Because you need to go through an underground tunnel to get to Vermilion directly, security's bound to be tight and Ryuu knows all about the Team Rocket Cerulean Security, he's been spying for so long on them that sometimes one would think he was a TR agent." Misty explained as if she said it before, Ryuu grinned insanely.

"Another useful reason we keep our cool around her sisters," Ryuu said, looking at Misty, she glowered at him. "They are so talented that we had them make us Team Rocket uniforms. Down to the last stitch it's hardly noticeable that they're false. They made one especially for you so we can sneak through security. Oh, I have IDs and a story we both will have to go along with."

"Perfect…" _Just perfect… _she thought miserably, _I'm stuck with the most arrogant boy in Kanto…joy._

"You can leave next week. After we get more training in, so here." Misty grabbed her hand and placed the Cascade Badge in it. Ivory shook her head, pushing it back into her hand.

"I will collect that badge the day I beat you Misty." Ivory stated firmly, her face serious. Misty gasped.

That face… 

"I need something to 'motivate' me anyway. I have another week full of torment after all," Ivory said, Misty smiled, putting the badge back in her pocket. Ryuu even looked surprised, staring down at the 'midget' that complained so much during her week of working out.

"Oh, and so you don't feel left out Ryuu." Ivory said, turning towards him.

"Yeah?"

"I'll beat you someday too! Mark my words!" Ivory growled, her eyes flaming up at him, he smirked.

"I would like to see you try," he replied as he returned Sandslash.

"You just wait…" she snarled, she jumped when a rustle came from behind her.

"Misty-san?" Misty's eyes reverted to the bushes behind Ivory, her lips in a tight line.

"Come on out Casey," Misty nearly muttered, she didn't sound like she was very fond of the person interrupting them. Or maybe it was just because they were interrupting them…

"Hello," a girl greeted as she popped out from behind the bush. She looked to be about fourteen or fifteen with bright blue hair in two low ponytails and lively crimson eyes. She wore a dark cap with a yellow lightning bolt on it and adorned herself in dark clothes lined with yellow. A large, bold 'E' on her left breast. A black belt was secured around her waist with a few poke'balls clasped to them.

"Good evening Casey," Ryuu greeted, looking a bit glum himself. Ivory eyed the girl, she looked – odd, and energetic for this time of night. She grinned and put her hand in a small hip-pack that was tied to her waist as well.

"Same to you two, who are you?" The girl named Casey spotted Ivory and looked to Misty for an answer.

"She's Ivory Koguu, she's been staying with us the past few days for training." Misty explained, Casey's eyes beamed.

"You're the girl Brock told me about! I'm very pleased to finally meet you! I'm Casey at your service!" Casey cried. Ivory sweat-dropped.

"Pleased to meet you too," she replied back weakly, suddenly tired already just by watching this girl dispose of seemly no energy.

"Info Casey-chan." Ryuu stated, bringing Casey back down to earth.

"Oh right, Maxie said this has something about the new hideout in the electric plant not too far from Cerulean." Casey said, pulling out a piece of folded paper and handing it to Misty. She unfolded it and read it.

"Oh c'mon," she growled, her eyebrows twitching angrily. "They really think Zapdos is still there?"

"They're probably not aiming for capturing him again." Casey said in a matter-of-fact tone. Misty looked back at her; irritated.

"But why hide out there? Who was the informant?" Ryuu asked, Casey folded her arms.

"It was Sparky, the one with the Jolteon. He'd been there on post for that past two weeks. He's been evacuating the pokemon to Johto along with some trainers from Lt. Surge's gym, he was lucky to get the last voltorb to Goldenrod just last week." Casey explained. Misty sighed and Ryuu ran a hand through his hair, Ivory took notice from the experience with being with the two that those signs were showing they were in thought or simply aggravated.

She should know, she saw it every time she tried to lift a stinkin' bar.

"Now we just need positions at the Seafoam Islands and Victory Road. Wait, there are already securities on Victory Road. Well, not in it anyway." Misty said, Ivory looked at her questionably. She noticed and smirked. "Pokemon on Victory Road have become even more unruly since the champion disappeared, and even went as far as violent when Team Rocket tried to control them. Right now Team Rocket has no control over those wild pokemon, but they don't worry about it now. They're too 'busy' with other matters."

"The world has fallen that low huh?" _Even the pokemon are becoming fanatic… _she thought with a sigh.

"Yep," Ryuu replied, folding his arms too.

"Well, I need to get going. Anything you want me to do?" Casey asked.

"Yes, if you can send a message back to Brock that we'll be fine for the moment. We just need to finish our _little project_." Misty said, Casey nodded in understanding while Ivory was completely lost.

"All right then, I'll be – hey! You've got a poke'gear, can I add my number?" Casey asked, she said pointing at the poke'gear around Ivory's neck, she never realized she put it on. Then again she probably slept with it by now.

"Um…sure…" Ivory said handing it to her after taking it off her neck.

"I'll add the EO's as well, never know when you might need them." Casey said, pushing buttons.

"EO?" Ivory repeated.

"The Earth Organization," Ryuu answered, Ivory blinked as she looked back at Casey. Finally she gave it back and with a 'farewell' she vanished back into the woods.

"Is she a ninja or something?" Ivory asked, Ryuu chuckled.

"She isn't quiet enough, but she is stealthy." Ryuu replied.

"And a competitive sport." Misty added, making Ryuu chuckle more.

"Let's get back home." Ryuu said, walking away. With a yawn Ivory slowly pursued. Misty, having longer legs walked faster, soon Ivory was at least five feet behind them.

_I wonder what this 'little project' of theres is? I wonder if I can help… _but the wind gave her no answers as she stopped and looked up at the sky. She suddenly felt stranded, trapped even. Here she was in the open, but still caged. The sky didn't even look happy; the stars twinkled only to give there light. The moon was half-empty, frowning all the same.

_I suppose the only way to get out of this trapped life is to get stronger to break it… _then she smirked. _And I'll do just that._


	6. Confronting Fear

**Chapter Six --- Confronting Fear**

The week came and went, the days became nippier in the morning and frost began to appear. Misty said it was October first, explaining the dropping temperature. The leaves began to stiffen and miraculously, Ivory and her pokemon became stronger. Enough that Ryuu began adding more weights and more energy-spending exercise schedules. But that didn't mean he and his pokemon didn't work out hard enough though.

Before Ivory went to bed one night, she was fluffing her pillow when she heard footsteps and the opening of the refrigerator downstairs. Pokemon already asleep, Ivory tiptoed down the stairs and peeked into the kitchen.

It was Ryuu, his pokemon no where to be seen. He was in a dark muscle shirt and sweat-pants, and despite her age she did feel a blush coming on through observing his rippling arm muscles and messy, damp hair. He was relaxing against the refrigerator with bottled water in his right hand and his left arm in between his forehead and the cold surface.

She hurried up the stairs as quietly as she could when he sighed and began to move. She did not want to be around him when he was tired, if he was arrogant when he was full of energy; she would hate to see him with hardly any energy.

Nonetheless, she practically flew in bed by the time he started up the stairs.

From that day on, it came to Ivory that Ryuu secretly jogged at night and Misty swam laps in the morning. Each had their own unique special training, while she shared both techniques; except swimming laps.

She often spent most of the night figuring out what she could do. On her own anyway. There wasn't much success…

So here they were, it was three in the morning and Ivory was fastening the black Rocket belt Daisy, Violet and Lily made. Clad in black with a bold, red 'R' on her left breast with a matching black hat. Her gray hair rolled up into it, her bangs shadowing her eyes now; she must have looked like a guy.

Kameko, Aldara and Panther's poke'ball were safely seen out on her belt. Misty replaced her emo bag with a black one with her supplies in it. She didn't want anything to give either Ryuu or Ivory away.

_I hope I can do this…I couldn't even lie to my own dad…of course that's completely different, but still… _she was doubting herself. She even knew that wasn't a good thing before a mission like this. But to get to Vermilion with the slightest chance of getting through unscathed was this underground tunnel. All her hope and trust resided in Ryuu for this one, she couldn't let him down with doubting herself so pathetically…

"You ate right?" Violet asked, she and Daisy and Lily came into the kitchen. As nervous as Ivory they appeared, Daisy was clasping her hands together and Lily biting her lower lip. Violet's hands were securely behind her back; she probably didn't trust them.

"Yeah," Ivory replied, she ate some, but when her stomach started tying itself in knots she had to give up eating the rest of her pancakes.

"You have our number, if there is any trouble we'll come for you immediately." Daisy stated, her voice sounded jerky. The past two weeks here at the Cerulean gym, Ivory had to admit she grew rather fond of the Cerulean sisters, including Misty. Unlike Misty, Ivory liked the creations the three sisters made in their free time, but like Misty. They were also gone time to time. Doing things Ivory was unaware of and Ryuu always changed the subject whenever she asked. She didn't bother asking Misty, she was sure to be tight-lipped as well.

"You'll be the first I would rely on," Ivory wanted to say, but her mouth began to dry. Suddenly becoming scared, before this she was twitchy and slightly frightened from what she was risking by doing this, but now she didn't have choice but to do this. The realization hit her hard; she fought back the tears and swallowed them. This wasn't the time to show weakness…not in front of anyone here.

She trained for this right?

She should be fine as long as she did what Ryuu said.

But since when did she trust that arrogant pervert? He even tried to steal another glance at her when she changed, but he promised there wasn't much to look at _yet._ SO he only did it to make her edgy and make her blood pump and ready her. She had to say the technique worked pretty well.

Too well.

"Here, we don't want anyone attacking you getting to the tunnel's entrance." Daisy said, producing a black cloak out of nowhere, staring at it Ivory finally took it after sending a questionable gaze towards the sisters. Lily answered.

"Just in case someone tries to do something stupid, running around in black isn't exactly a good thing. But sporting the red 'R' in such a small group is a definite no-no." Lily explained, Ivory nodded, not trusting herself to reply in case something more than just words came out.

"Ready?" It was Ryuu, he came sliding out already wearing the black cloak hoisted around his form, his hair too smothered by the black hat, hood still down however. Another surprise came out from beneath it as well, a black – mask.

"All members wear one," Ryuu said as she took it and examined it. "And this way, if they manage to find out who you are, they won't get a good photo within the building." She looked up at him gratefully and nodded. It turns out when Ash Ketchum left; he took all citizen data and profiles along with him or erased them from the database. Leaving Team Rocket without a list of people in Kanto, however, the gyms leaders and other trade marks were not that hard to find so it was the regular citizens that were somewhat safe from the dark organization's wrath.

"Where's Misty?" Ivory asked, trying to remain calm though she was sure some hint of uneasiness flew out somehow. Violet looked at her with a sad smile.

"She had some business to attend to a long way from here, she left sometime in the middle of the night I'm afraid." Violet answered, Ivory scanned the kitchen. There was no flaming red hair to be seen…

"She'll be fine," Ryuu said, closing his eyes and jaw set strong. Ivory blinked, he was fine with Misty out on her own? But of course she was a powerful gym leader…did Misty wander out on her own like that a lot? She should know that wouldn't she? Ivory had been here a while no?

"It's best if you hurry and leave now, they'll be switching posts soon." Daisy stated, her voice the strongest of the group in the kitchen so far. Ivory didn't bother nodding, no one would be convinced she was all right anyway.

"Remember, with both Misty and I away, keep everything locked and secure." Ryuu reminded, Lily thanked him for his worry, but Daisy grew slightly annoyed as she snapped at him for treating them like reckless children.

"We should be the ones giving you tips," Daisy replied; annoyed. Lily smiled and Violet shook her head at her elder sister's words. Ryuu however, grinned.

"My bad," Ryuu retorted as he then turned around, "let's go Ivor- Ivory?" his eyes whisked.

"She was just there a second ago," Lily stated.

"Ivory?" Daisy cried out through the house. They stood there for a minute before some responding footsteps came down the hall.

"S-Sorry, were you calling?" it was Ivory, a little out of breath and looking at the sisters and Ryuu in question. The three sisters frowned and Ryuu sighed.

"That was – pretty fast…where did you go?" Violet asked, Ivory nervously smiled.

"Just to check up on something, nothing to worry about. Let's go Ryuu," it appeared that Ivory wanted to get this over with, no one bothered to blame her and took her word for it.

As Ryuu turned to leave again with Ivory right on his heels, Lily spoke.

"Be careful."

They waved and grinned encouragingly at the three (Ivory having a small shade of green along her cheekbones) then they slid out the back door. Leaving the three sisters of Cerulean alone in the kitchen.

* * *

They spotted the Team Rocket soldiers a mile away, standing erect and alert around the tunnel entrance – the only way as of now that led to Vermilion. The lush bushes kept the black duo away from the menacing eyes of the soldiers. However, if it weren't the eyes that would miss them, their ears certainly wouldn't since by now, Ivory was sure she was about to vomit…

_I can do this…I can do this… _"I can't do this…" she whispered, she didn't know she did till she felt Ryuu's glare boring into her head.

"You CAN do this. Now be quiet," he wasn't in the mood for jokes right now. And she wasn't in the mood to take his mood right now. So instead of retorting, she fell silent. She only had to do what Ryuu said to keep safe, but she never saw Ryuu in this sort of action before. He didn't even bother giving her that much details except 'play along' or 'act dumb'. He even added in 'you're a little twerp, all I have to do is say you're my trainee and you have no idea what you're saying or doing'. Saying they would buy anything and I was a foot and few inches short than he was anyway.

_He didn't have to rub it in…_ she mentally snarled.

"We shouldn't sneak in…it'll make us appear more suspicious, and remember, leave me to the talking. You're a mute," Ryuu spoke again, Ivory huffed. "Shh!" She looked away, cocky, tall –

"Come on, and remember to look down." Ryuu spoke in his lecturing mode, she didn't nod but he took her no reply for a 'yes sir' and walked out of the bushes, Ivory on his heels again.

"Halt!" a TR soldier cried, readying his polished gun that was armed at his side. Ryuu's expression grew dark and his smirk was sinister.

"Dare hold a weapon at me Lieutenant?" Ryuu snarled, suddenly supercilious.

"You bear our symbol, but I do not recognize you. Give me your name, status, your business here and the shrimp at your side." The soldier retorted, Ivory froze.

_Shrimp?_

"I am Number 989871 Kouka Edwards, Agent I, I was sent here in order to give my 'apprentice' some _experience_. His name is accounted under Agent XI, Number 989899 Sam Kingfischer." Ryuu spoke; fully confident did he sound as he kept himself under his long, black cloak. Ivory looking down at the ground in hope no one would question her.

_Since when did he plan on calling me a 'he'? _She thought evil plots as Ryuu went on about 'pokemon' and 'missions' until he was told to bring out the ID cards for each of them. When Ryuu did so, the soldier lowered his weapon, but it was off safety and ready to fire at anytime.

The soldier was silent as he analyzed the two ID cards; eventually he swiped them through a small device that dinged. Making Ivory jump.

"What's wrong with you Shrimp?" the soldier growled, almost sounding amused. Ivory's eyes widened.

"He's a mute, terrified of a caterpie he is. Unfortunately it's his talent that the boss is after, he says some 'hard persuasion' is needed. Hence why we're here," Ryuu spoke; his voice ten times more grown-up than before. Ivory rolled her eyes, taking advantage of the fact no one could see beneath her hat and bangs.

"Hm…" she suddenly felt fingers pressed against her chin, pushing her head to look up at the brute of a man. His eyes were a cold, stainless gray with muscles even thicker around the neck and his jawbone appeared powerful. Next to that, he was at least six and a half feet tall!

"Cute one he is…" she almost didn't hear him as he looked down at her, lust gathering in the depths of his eyes. It was like he could see through her disguise and seen the frightened, weak-kneed Ivory about ready to pass out. Not this mute Sam Kingfischer!

Obviously not hearing him (or even if he did probably wouldn't do anything but smirk) Ryuu had already placed the two ID cards away, looking at the soldier as he released his hold on Ivory. Ivory settled back down on her shifty feet, unsure she could go through with the rest of this if this was the beginning…

"You're good," the soldier said, looking at Ryuu. Ryuu looked back indifferently, nodding. As Ryuu headed away towards the door, Ivory followed, feeling the gaze of the soldier of her back.

_Lord help me… _she silently begged as she and Ryuu vanished through the door.

At first when they entered, everything was silent and dark. Ivory felt like she had entered the world of shadows, but soon dim lighting made its way into her irises and there Ryuu stood. Beside her and not looking at her, wasn't he going to ask whether she was all right? She was touched and scanned by a machamp of a man and he didn't have the decency of asking whether she was all right?

"Come on, I'll leave you to the murkrows if you don't start moving soon." Ryuu's voice was harsh and cold; it scared Ivory as she started trailing after him. Remembering to keep her head down. He was leading her down a path, the walls she noticed, were of some sort of metal, flawless and shined with even the smallest light above them where small light bulbs were put in. The floors were tiled and little black squares lined the walls.

_Cameras perhaps? _

Only their footsteps echoed and bounced along the walls, for a tunnel, she thought, it sure was tiny. Did people more than two years ago travel in between Vermilion and Cerulean this way all the time? Or did so few people go back and forth no one bothered making the tunnel any bigger? As of now, she felt a tinge of claustrophobic coming on…

"Here's your first test," Ryuu spoke, his voice as frozen as ice. Ivory gulped.

_Play along…play along… _she couldn't help but let a bad feeling cloud her mind, her stomach had long since tied itself in knots and bile began to get harder to swallow. She would be able to hear a pen drop with how quiet it was, like they were in a tomb. A brand new, empty tomb…waiting for its body…

_Calm down…Ryuu won't let anything happen to you…just play along…deep breath in…breathe out… _At the time her heart rate began to calm did a massive sound roar through the air.

"Intruder! It turns out your ID was not as genuine as you thought!" it was the large man from before, the large noise vanished.

"Ryu-" Ivory's head snapped up to look at the older boy but she felt instant pain meet her left cheek.

"Keep quiet!" he snarled.

At first she didn't believe it was Ryuu's voice, she didn't _want _to believe it was Ryuu's voice, she didn't _want _to be here. But the pungent pain along her skin told her it was in fact, Ryuu who smacked her and snarled at her. When she tried to straighten herself up in a proper standing position. She couldn't help but bring her hand to her cheek, to feel wetness there…

Was it the pain that made tears fall or the sting of betrayal?

"You dared lie to _me_ and think you could wander through here _alive_! Under the strict policies of Team Rocket! I hear-by condemned you both to your deaths!" the soldier laughed, Ivory looked up with great fear as the man drew out two kodachies, skillfully rolling and tossing them in his hands. Ryuu himself, pulled out a few of his own (yet shorter) blades. A second later four metals clashed into each other and sparks went flying.

"I'll distract him! The exit isn't that far! Hurry and go! They'll be soldiers! Now go!" It was obvious that Ryuu was giving warnings in short sentences that made no sense, but Ivory melted the glue between her trainers and the floor and ran past the two sword wielders.

Since when did Ryuu know how to fight with a sword anyway? He certainly never talked about it nor had she ever seen him training with one…

_Think later run now! _She thought miserably as she pounded her legs harder, her breath getting faster and more labored. _How can I already be tired?_

"Now, where are you going you little pretty trinket?" a lusty voice crooned as a hand grasped at her left forearm.

"Ack! Get off of me!" she cried, her right hand tearing at the man's glove. It was no use she realized a moment later, it was thick and the man was as still as a stone statue.

"Not a guy after all huh?" the man said, when she looked up, she discovered it wasn't a man, but a teenage boy probably a little younger than Ryuu. He had a dark shade of blue, spiky hair and sapphire eyes that shone brighter with experience other than interest…what was going on? He didn't even have a poke'ball in his hand…

But he was clad in the Team Rocket uniform – he couldn't be trusted.

But could she trust Ryuu?

_He just gave you his life and you're thinking bad thoughts about him AND you're distracting yourself from a possibly really important situation! Keep focused girl! _The voice in her head scolded, she shook it vigorously and gave the boy her best glare. He grinned – sinisterly.

"What? Aren't you even going to put up a fight?" he asked, cockiness emitted from his tone.

"Let me go!" she retorted as she attempted to flail. He twisted her arm back and continued to grin. She winced and glowered at the wall, as she couldn't turn around completely with his strong grip on her.

"What a nice pokemon collection, only three too…I wonder if they're any good…" the boy chuckled as he readjusted his grip on her, but then with one heave he threw her to the ground.

"Get up!" he shouted, she immediately staggered to her feet. What did he want? Did he want to battle her? Or was he just fooling with her, someone to toy with and threaten till she broke and had to be thrown away…?

"You are so pathetic! You haven't even tried to fight! Heck, I don't think you could fight!" the boy cried, smirking. His smirk grew darker and more amused as she reached for Aldara, but…

"What?" the ball wasn't there, neither was Kameko's or Panther's.

"Looking for these?" he asked, flashing out three minimized poke'balls in between his own fingers. She gasped, not bothering to mask her despair and fear as she eyed her poke'balls in the hands of that criminal.

"These would be a nice addition to the boss's collection. In fact, they'll be more than that…you see," he was walking closer towards Ivory as she backed up and into the wall, with his other hand he was twirling a knife, a sharp and possibly new blade attached…

"The last of the pokemon we had been testing before kind of well…were incinerated, they didn't take the new dosage of chemicals we've been preparing for evolution, unfortunately, none of the drinkers' bodies took it nicely." The boy said, smirking as he came to a halt before her.

Her vision began to blur, she couldn't hold the emotion in. She WAS pathetic…after all those weeks of constant training and building muscle. She was still that weak little girl that thought she could get away with anything that came from Pallet Town. Wouldn't that be great for her dad to hear she died cowering in the shadows, bruised and beaten and ran, leaving behind her 'trainer' in terms of speaking about Ryuu…

"You're friend back there, he's facing off with the REAL Kouka Edwards, pretty stupid of him to take the ID of a commander that was guarding the entry huh?" the boy rambled on, she couldn't protect herself from the upcoming death, let alone her own pokemon. They would share the worse of this fate…

"Most likely dead now, wouldn't you say? After all, Ryuu had always been outdone by Kouka, even before they knew each other." The boy said, his nose nearly touching hers. Both hardly noticed as a lone wet trail ran down her cheek and a tear splashed against the tiled floor beneath them.

A cry ran through the hall, shattering the tense silence between the boy and Ivory. Several more cries came before they went quiet, leaving the two alone once more. To Ivory, those cries sounded familiar…even if she hadn't ever heard them before, they still sounded of the same base…

_Ryuu? _Her eyes widened with fright.

"Bingo," the boy said joyfully, "your friend is dead."

_Ryuu? Dead…? _Ivory felt her knees buckle, she was truly alone. Faces flew into her mind, blinding her vision…

_Daddy…Professor Oak, Lily, Daisy, Violet…Richard? _More beads of salty liquid formed in the corner of her eyes, _Misty?_

"Aren't you finished yet?" she looked over slowly at her left, the boy looked over to, no longer grinning.

"Hold it man-"

"What?" Seeing the brute of a man covered in fresh blood still dripping down to the floor. It felt like it took ages for drops to make impact with the floor…and when they did, they formed pools of the crimson liquid.

_What else to do…?_ She felt herself falling, her knees landed on the floor, racking her kneecaps hard with cold and pain. She didn't feel the rest of herself hit the floor, but she didn't care. She didn't exactly pass out, but more like became a zombie – a lifeless body.

She couldn't see, only hear, the taste in her mouth represented bile, her heart pounded loudly in her ears, nerves of fright went numb and her body felt like jello.

It's all over… 

Footsteps came to her ears, another set came along. Then someone started speaking…

"She was tearing real bad man, she was in a serious state-"

"What do you think she would otherwise expect, we could've done worse."

"I know, I know, but she's what? Only ten?"

"Twelve,"

"Whatever, I still say it was cruel."

"C'mon, there's no use hanging around here. I'll have Nurse Joy look at her-"

"It won't be good if you carry her and don't have an ounce of paint on you pal, she thinks you're dead. She was murmuring your name a second ago,"

"If she has any spunk after that Ryuu, you're in for an earful or one hell of a guilt trip."

"Or both."

"Shut it guys, I know what I'm doing."

"With how you planned this for her, I say you didn't like the girl-"

"Shut it Corey!"

"Hey, don't take it out on him Ryuu!"

"You can leave now-"

"No, we're coming with you. Someone's going to have to talk to her and you always make the matters worse,"

"How so,"

"Must I recall?"

"What happened back then-"

"Dear God Ryuu! You're still in the past! Listen buddy, it wasn't your fault!"

"Don't hurt the girl in return for your resentment Ryuu."

"Back off, both of you. You can come, but don't tell her a thing."

"What? You planning on telling her,"

"When she asks,"

"Nice one Ryuu,"

"I mean it."

"No, really, nice one. I don't think she actually fainted man, more like she's subconscious."

A curse flowed through someone's lips, another person spoke up.

"You can say that again,"

A moment later it seemed after the end of the conversation that something cold was placed against her chest. She felt her eyelids open but couldn't see more than the dim lighting similar to the ones in the tunnel.

"Her heart rate's fine, she's semi-conscious as well, she was put into a real shock back there, no wonder Ryuu had me on stand-by…" a calmer, sweeter voice broke through her mind.

"N-Nurse Joy…" Ivory muttered, trying to blink and regain proper sight. Her muscles were tight and ached in her calves, she held up an arm and rubbed her closed eyes.

"Yes, I'm Nurse Joy." It was not until color and clear outlining returned somewhat did she spot Nurse Joy, who smiled and said "Welcome back Ivory." Ivory couldn't manage to smile back, not after all the information that came flooding back to her from that bodiless conversation.

"I'm at the Pokemon Center?" Ivory asked, she realized she was lying down on a comfy mattress, Team Rocket uniform removed and dressed in a white gown. Her gray hair down, tangled in her ears.

"Yes,"

"In Vermilion?"

"The one and only."

"So it did happen…" she muttered quietly, Nurse Joy nodded sadly.

"I'm afraid so, if I could I would've convinced Ryuu otherwise, but he says he knew it was for the best." Nurse Joy stated, knowing full well what Ivory just went through.

_It was all a scheme…to prove I was worthless…_ Ivory thought, resting her arm over eyes.

"Please Ivory, give him and the others a chance to explain before jumping to conclusions. Do try Ivory, they want you to be safe…especially Ryuu." Nurse Joy said as she patted Ivory's arm.

When the door clicked closed behind her, Ivory laid there unmoving.

Until painful, body-racking sobs squeezed their way to the surface…


	7. Scars of the Past

**Chapter Seven --- Scars of the Past**

"_Daddy! It hurts!" Six-year-old Ivory cried as Dale Koguu, a slim man around twenty-five with a mop of black hair down to his shoulders with firm, but soft ocean-blue eyes. _

_He was gently placing gauze on her left, red hand. A bloodied rag next to him._

"_Of course it hurts Ivory, there's a reason why you don't place with wild bellsprout." Dale stated firmly, not sounding happy at all. Ivory sniffed, tears running down over the previous trails the former ones made. _

_When finally Dale finished wrapping bandages around her red hand, he sighed._

"_Promise me you won't disturb anymore pokemon, and for your safety, you cannot go back on Route 43 or 42." Dale warned her, Ivory grimaced._

"_What? But Daddy-"_

"_No buts, just be glad you only got away with this. That bellsprout was probably watching over a nest." Dale said, then firmly set his eyes on his daughter's. "Now, did we learn our lesson today?"_

_She nodded glumly as she cradled her hand._

"_Good girl,"

* * *

_

It had been several hours since Ivory cried herself to sleep, unable to think but of the feeling of betrayal Ryuu bestowed upon her. She felt shame boiled up inside, such a scheme…Ryuu actually acted like a true TR agent…she knew they were incognito, but still…to treat her so cruelly and even worse, have the nerve to _deceive_ her! He had his 'friends' come and add to the torture as well!

_What a great friend he was…_if you considered him a friend in the first place…

She was tired, tired of being used. It felt like she had been clinging to Ryuu for the past few weeks and she had to do it, if it weren't Ryuu it was Misty, or Daisy, Lily and Violet. They were all training her till finally the muscles in her body wouldn't give anymore.

_I'm only twelve! _She mentally cried as she felt herself slowly awakening, feeling the mattress and sheets rather very comfortable and warm.

"She's only twelve!" someone echoed her thought aloud within the room, it was a male voice, not Ryuu's though. Lighter in base, more into tenor but tough all the same.

"It's life Corey,"

_Ah…that's his name…_ she thought groggily, not willing to open her eyes just yet.

"You're here in Vermilion aren't you? Give the kid a breather!" Another male voice exclaimed.

"She can breathe freely all she wants after I talk to her," Ryuu replied.

"You mean, after you _lecture_ her. Don't be so hard man, that kind of experience leaves most people dead-"

"Whole point of the test,"

_Test? _He _calls _that_ a _test! The thought made her blood simmer all over again, her nerves and brain waking faster.

"But Ryuu-"

"You have no concern as of yet Kouka,"

"Of course we do, you're going to be staying here for a while aren't you? We'll be having to look out for the kid too." The one called Corey stated in a reasonable tone, giving Ivory the impression of a male version of Misty, except without the flaring temper she hardly sensed in Misty in the first place.

"That would be too much asking on my part guys," Ryuu replied sternly.

"You don't _need_ to ask anything of us man, we're you're buddies. Always gonna be like that," the REAL Kouka stated.

"…" Ryuu had no reply ready or so it seemed, Ivory had calmed her blood pressure by a bit, ears watching the three around her.

"Lt. Surge knows we're here right?" Ryuu asked.

"Aye, matters have come and been done Ryuu!" Corey proclaimed.

"Fine," Ryuu said.

"Does anyone want something to eat? I'm headin' out for a bite." Kouka asked.

"Sure, I'll join you. What about you Ryuu?" Corey asked.

"Don't bother with me, when she wakes up it's best she sees me first. She'll probably have questions," Ryuu said, stoically.

"All right man, good luck." Kouka said as the door clicked open.

"Yeah, you're probably going to need it." Corey said as he followed Kouka out. For several minutes did Ivory lay there and wait for Ryuu to do something, her eyes clamped shut. The more she thought about Ryuu and what he had done the more her blood simmered. In these times wasn't comfort and kindness the best remedy around? Or so her father mentioned…

"_Leave it to those who mean harm to break your heart, but those who do so only make you strong."_

"I know you're awake." Ryuu's voice pierced through her skull; surprising her. She stiffened, knowing she had already given away her actual condition, indeed she was awake, but…

"C'mon, we have to talk." Ryuu encouraged, Ivory stifled a hiss.

"What makes you think I want to hear what you wanna say?" Ivory managed out in between virulent curses stringing themselves together in her head. She heard Ryuu sigh, as if he knew this was coming. "Sorry if I sound immature _Ryuu_. But if I must admit, I don't go around hitting people meaninglessly." She added sarcastically. This time Ryuu snarled.

"Stop acting like that and sit up Ivory!" Ryuu snapped, obviously unhappy.

_Not as unhappy as I am…_ she still felt the sting on her cheek where he hit her.

"What will you do? Hit me? _Again?_" This conversation was not going to be pretty, Ivory was going to make sure of that. If she were to go through hell, then Ryuu's coming with her.

"If you would shut up for a minute I'll explain why we did what we did!"

"We? You mean your friends? What are their names again? Corey and Kouka? Or do you mean you and I in terms of master and slave? Because if you ask me-"

"I'm not asking you anything-"

"I said _if _moron!" Ivory growled, both volumes rising as the conversation carried on.

"Stop acting like a child-"

"_If_ you haven't noticed **I-am-a-child**!" Ivory corrected with a pungent tone, Ryuu backed away, his expression darkening.

"If you want to be a trainer Ivory! Then you better learn to grow up then!" Ryuu retaliated suddenly soon after Ivory thought she had the last say. Apparently not, she realized and sniffed.

Was she crying?

No, there were no tears. But her vision was blurring…who knew Ryuu could imitate a blob…

"You and Team Rocket are almost the same!" Ryuu shouted now, he wasn't holding back. "You both think life is a game and if you mess up it's no big deal and you can push 'restart' despite the lives you may or have put in danger! Life is no freakin' game Ivory! If you kill someone you can't go back in time and avoid it! You have got to expect the unexpected and take responsibility for your actions and do what is expected of you!"

What he was saying Ivory knew was true, but it stung…no, burned her insides. Her stomach was rebelling against her, she was happy she hadn't eaten anything yet but her throat all the same began to gasp. Her face suddenly felt hot and her eyes blazed and wetness chilled her cheeks for mere seconds before sliding down her chin. Her breathing became choppy and she found it hard to keep her teeth together as sobs racked her body.

In fact when she felt sick at the most did her body lift, someone pulled her to their chest and embraced her tight.

_R-Ryuu…?_

"I can't apologize Ivory for what I've done, I did it on purpose to give you a taste of what Team Rocket would do. I don't want you hurt and to tell the truth…I had to see how you would be in that kind of situation, because…if you were ever in that kind of situation without me, I want to know that you can take care of yourself." Ryuu explained as Ivory cried into his shoulder.

"I really don't want you hurt…"

* * *

By noon did Ivory reawaken to find herself alone in the white room, Ryuu gone and his friends no where to be seen. Not even Nurse Joy or Chansey were there to greet her.

_I wonder – oh! _Her face burned crimson when she remembered how she fell asleep a few hours ago. She raised her hand to her forehead, it still tingled…

"_I really don't want you hurt…" _The soft peck still lingered on her skin, she blinked several times before dropping her hand.

Did Ryuu like her?

_No, why would he?_

Did she like him?

_Uh…no._

Maybe as a friend, but she wasn't ready to go any further than that. She didn't want to think anything of the sort when her birthday came around.

"What's today?" she asked no one in particular as she fumbled around her stuff that was placed beside the bed for the poke'gear. Pulling it out she 'beeped' it on, instantly the screen greeted her with the date, time and place.

**12:01PM**

**9/6/06**

**Vermilion City, Kanto**

Glancing around then looking back at the poke'gear, she tapped into the phone numbers. Maybe she should give it a try here while she had the chance…

Deciding at last she decided on Professor Oak, she wouldn't really know how to talk to someone across the phone she didn't know, and if the original owner knew Professor Oak maybe he could give her some pointers on this Marina Dani. Clicking on the name she waited silently as the color flashed from green to black until finally she could hear a ringing.

Ring…ring…ring…

"H-Hello?" It was Tracey Sketchit.

"Hey! Tracey?" Ivory greeted, pushing all depression behind, this was not the time to make things sound more worried, as Tracy already sounded like a train wreak. "What's up?"

"Nothing good," his only reply came with great difficulty. Ivory stammered over words in her mind, what was she suppose to say to that?

"What? What's going on?" Ivory asked into the phone.

"We…yesterday we were sent a letter from Team Rocket." Tracey began.

"And…?"

"And they said they would bomb Pallet if they discovered we gave a pokemon to you!" Tracey proclaimed, she suddenly heard some rustling and Tracey burst out 'It's Ivory!' and instantly a new voice came to her from the poke'gear.

"Ivory?" It was Professor Oak.

"Professor?" she replied.

"Listen to me, they know who you are." Professor Oak stated.

"So I've heard,"

"This is no time to be silly Ivory, you need to know that they have a full body image of you-"

"Not that it'll be any good," Ivory said cheerfully, Professor Oak pressed her. "You see, I went through a whole make-over done by the Cerulean Gym sisters, excluding Misty."

"Where? How? No wait; don't tell me anything over the phone we could very well be tapped into. But before we go on anything more, tell me how you got a hold of Marina's poke'gear?" Professor Oak's voice sounded urgent, it made Ivory's heart speed up.

"I got it from a man in Viridian City Prof. He said that Team Rocket might have left it in his house after it was searched." Ivory answered.

"Reasonable, but why they had her poke'gear…gawd I hope she's all right."

"Why? Who is she Prof.?" Ivory was becoming more impatient by the minute.

"She's an old student of Professor Elm's, she went on her own pokemon journey years ago in Johto. We crossed paths at the beginning of it at an old pal's house. If you indeed got the poke'gear you're holding now from the hands of Team Rocket, I'm afraid I have to accept the worst." Professor Oak went on sadly.

"They might have her…" Ivory's voice sounded mono-toned.

"Or she may be among them."

"She could've struggled with them and left her poke'gear in their possession Prof. Don't get so down yet, she may be in hiding somewhere." Ivory tried to reason, but Professor Oak's tone didn't cheer up however.

"You mean to tell me her whereabouts are untraceable? Even with her poke'gear?" Professor Oak asked.

"It gets all fuzzy when you click on the map, therefore I can't even find out where is where." She said, even though she didn't need a map after two years of studying, it was still suspicious and needed looking into.

"She's a strong-willed trainer, she's probably fine or in the same condition as Gary. But anyway, listen to me carefully Ivory. Wherever you are, keep to your friends and pokemon at all times. If you're spotted by the smartest of Rockets, you might as well say bye-bye to Pallet Town." Professor Oak said.

"Or I could go back home-"

"Absolutely not, the risk is all the same if you try to get back here and if you're spotted within town. You're as wanted as a dark criminal to Team Rocket. With pokemon or not. They want you," Professor Oak replied, Ivory nodded.

"Yes sir, but-"

"Go to Lt. Surge, he used to be a Team Rocket executive and a dangerous one too, but he's proven himself trustworthy as well as Koga and Sabrina. Be careful all right, you're father is worried but I'll have him know you called. Oh, and don't call anyone from anywhere on anything, everything is being watched and the more you stay down low the better chances of survival you have. Got it?"

"Yeah, you guys be careful too." Ivory said.

"We're as careful as you are." Professor Oak said, before hanging up, with a click, the poke'gear shifted off as well.

"I better get dressed." She said softly before placing the poke'gear over her neck and uncovering her legs. She discovered she was in a white gown. Not that it was important as she wobbled onto her legs and grabbed hold of her stuff. Slipping into an all-new outfit that consisted of tight blue Jeans and a white tank top beneath a maroon jersey. A maroon sports cap to complete the look along with a pair of shades. Placing her pokemons' balls in her pocket she slipped on her shoes and wandered to the door.

"And where do you think you are going?" She froze in her tracks…that voice belonged to the one named Corey.

"Eh?" She slowly turned her head to look at the window; sure enough a slim guy sat on the sill munching on a green apple.

"Name's Corey Wilmstone, I'm suppose to be watching you today." Corey stated, his navy blue hair spiked from the back to the front over his face with shining, tricky chocolate orbs watching her every move. He wore a pair of black sweatpants and jacket lined with yellow and white along the arms and pant legs. His top unzipped to show a low-cut T-shirt of gray and nicely shaped chest from what she could see at the top-

_Good lord girl you're nearly thirteen and the guy looks Ryuu's age!_ Refraining from shaking her head, she reluctantly waved.

"Hey," she greeted, now didn't she sound weak? Corey grinned, closing his eyes.

"You're Ivory Koguu right? Don't worry about Ryuu, he went out for some business with Kouka. Oh, and by the way. Kouka isn't a bad guy. He wasn't ever that big either," she supposed he was talking about when Ryuu and she greeted the Rocket Kouka back before the tunnel. Was in disguise back there to scare her?

Probably.

"Anyway, I take it you want to do some battling." It wasn't a question, it was like Corey knew what was running through her mind as he reopened his eyes and watched her again.

"Er – yeah."

"All right, but let's get some food into your system first, be in a flash." She took this as her cue to hurry as Corey leaped out of the window (she gasped since she didn't know she was on the ground floor and hurried out into the hallway).

"Lobby's this way…" she thought aloud as she spotted a sign, directing her where to go.

"_Chansey!_" the gleeful, pink blob of a pokemon came around the corner in front of Ivory (who nearly fell over her).

"Hey Chansey," Ivory greeted nervously, trying to shove the thought of running her over away in the trash storage.

"_Chansey!_" she cried as she pulled at her jersey, urging her to follow her.

"O-Okay," Ivory let the pokemon lead her away towards a large room, the cafeteria? Already Corey was sitting at a table, now sipping some sort of drink now.

_He's fast…_ she thought as he looked up and spotted her, he flicked his wrist in greeting to her. The nurse pokemon waddled away, leaving Ivory alone with the odd, and extremely fast person.

"You travel quick." She stated, not knowing what else to say.

"It's convenient in times of trouble, messaging through other lines of communication are risky nowadays." Corey replied as he lowered his hand. "Why don't you get something to eat?" He appeared to have already had something to occupy him as he shooed her towards the other side of the cafeteria where the food was held.

"All right…" she was eager to question this boy, but then again she was nervous, she didn't understand why but it might have been because Ryuu assigned _him_ to watch her. Where did Ryuu have to go that he couldn't afford with her around? Just business? Or maybe it was just because she had just woken up so little ago? It was probably the latter…she had been asleep when he left.

_He better be careful. I have a bone to pick with him after all… _Ivory mentally snarled as she picked up a tray. Then she blinked as she looked down at it. _I wonder how much my pokemon will eat?_

Wrong question to ask herself, in fact, the proper question was whether or not if the cafeteria had enough food to fill her pokemon.

"God forbid…it looks like they haven't eaten for weeks!" Corey exclaimed as Ivory arrived with yet another armload of food carried off from the nearly empty buffet. The workers hurrying off throughout the Pokemon Food storage hoping to find more for their patients and other folk.

Kameko, Aldara and Panther alone devoured twenty pounds of food each, and apparently didn't gain an ounce yet. Fascinating Corey and Ivory, both staring down at them as they wolfed the food down, or in Ivory's case, as she placed the food down she literally leaped back by several feet to evade her pokemon's hungry paws.

"Have you been feeding them worms and space tube foods?" Corey asked, jaw hanging and eyes gawking. Posture didn't seem much of a hassle to him. She sighed and with a shrug dropped down in her chair. Then she blinked.

"Space tube foods?" she imitated, Corey regained a straighter manner of sitting before shrugging.

"They look _tiny_." He replied.

"So you mean they don't look filling?" Ivory asked with a grin.

"Nu-uh,"

They sat in silence, excluding the pokemon's hungry chops before she looked over at him.

"Have you and your pokemon already eat?" she asked, he nodded.

"We're early birds," he said, drinking more from the cup in his hands. "But anyway, let's get down to business while no one's around." It was then that Ivory noticed that indeed, as Corey stated, everyone was gone. There no longer was anyone scurrying about behind the buffet counters; there was only Corey, Ivory and her pokemon.

_How odd, it's like they all left on command…wait a minute. _"It does look like they left on command!" Ivory exclaimed, Corey raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?"

"I'm not _that _stupid, it is either that everyone has something to do nowadays – _especially _nowadays – this early in the morning or everyone simply has good timing?" It was more of a question aimed at Corey after she finished; Corey gave her a bored look.

"Either you are very dense or you have no clue what is going on in Vermilion of 2006. I prefer the latter," Corey said, Ivory stared at him; apparently waiting patiently for an explanation. He cracked his knuckles and sighed, giving a few moments' time before beginning – annoying Ivory in the process.

"Can you get on with it already?" she asked impatiently, this time he grinned.

"I thought you were never going to ask, all right," he became stern, much like Ryuu. "Haven't you noticed that you're pokemon are eating freely within a room in a Pokemon Center?" She blinked, that's right, she didn't even think about her pokemon out in the cafeteria. Was it because she was around one of Ryuu's friends?

"You are very naïve Ivory-chan, I could have easily have been a Team Rocket agent incognito and could've swiped you're pokemon right from underneath your nose. You are very lucky, in this case, that I am not." Corey began; she flushed a deep pink.

_Idiot! There wouldn't even be anyone to help me either, there aren't any windows or – eh? _"There aren't any windows," she stated, forgetting the reprimand Corey cast out upon her.

"That's right," Corey said, seeming to forget as well. "This room is high in security, there are rooms like this in every other Pokemon Center that are hidden behind Psychic barriers of alias, Psychic pokemon. In this case, the pokemon hiding this room is a kirilia named RosaJoy whom just recently evolved from a ralts. I'm afraid where she is, is only known to Nurse Joy. So when you wanna come down here for a snack, keep your motives intact and mind calm, if there are any sinister waves in the air (that's how the kirilia sees) RosaJoy will pick up on that and the barrier will not allow you in."

"Oh…right." Ivory was stunned needless to say, while she was with her father and grandpa up in Mahagony Town in Johto, she didn't know any of the danger Kanto was in, or how far people have gone to avoid detection. However she did not say she was unimpressed.

"Here's some more facts you better know while you're here." Again Corey grew stern, if not grim. He set his elbows on the table, his posture and gaze demanding every pound of her attention. Even Ivory's pokemon listened intently.

"Vermilion has been under a lot of stress, like Saffron and Fuchsia. Because Lt. Surge, Sabrina and Koga used to be Team Rocket executives, Team Rocket has thought of every way to make his or her hometown a living hell. Unfortunately, every minute of every hour of every day of every year became just that. In fact, it's so bad that unlike other gyms in Kanto that fight back, these three gyms are completely shut down like Viridian City's gym where they're gathering dust and locked up tighter than a glacier is thick." Corey explained, his eye unfaltering as they kept Ivory's in contact. Aldara looked around cautiously, Kameko looking somewhat paranoid all of a second and Panther sat there quietly, still too young to understand the condition.

"You see, every citizen of Vermilion, Saffron and Fuchsia had been expected to work out tasks that are given out on every day schedules in the halls that have been built just for this propose. They're recognized by the Team Rocket logo screwed onto them. So if you happen to come across these buildings without us around – though I doubt you'll be wandering about on your own – walk away calmly in the opposite direction. Snipers are rumored to lounge about on the roofs if you so happen to cause trouble or on rare occurrence, have pokemon with you. You're pokemon will taken or possibly killed along with you on the spot, or if their lacking potential, they'll see what you have in underground battle stadiums away from the public eye and even some _enhancements_." Corey said with great detail, Ivory's jaw dropped in wonder, but she quickly clenched her mouth shut before asking.

"You seem to know a lot about what goes on around here…" she didn't like how gruesome his eyes turned, from a calm, sharp chocolate came to a hideous, rageful copper.

Slowly, his hands went to his waist, when they came back up, the bottom of the jacket came up with them. Ivory literally fell backwards onto the ground with shock, the crash didn't even wake her pokemon from the horrible sight. All three gaped, not daring to move as if some terrorizing creature will strike them if they twitch.

Under his jacket and shirt was his midsection and more than half of his upper torso where heavily charred skin was stitched together like patches on a quilt, connecting to the healthy skin above, there was even some plastic casing near his hips that continue further beneath his pants. Was that even skin? Or was it actual cloth used to keep Corey's body together?

Ivory was too sick to her stomach to think about it as she tried to place her chair back on all four, but her hands were too shaky while the rest of her trembled.

A tear rolled down her cheek as a hand came down on her head gently.

"You see? There are _much more things _**worse** than _death_." It was Corey as another hand gripped her left hand; pulling her up into the straightened chair. By this time, Aldara had buried her head into her empty bowl, Kameko withdrew to her shell and Panther appeared to be on the verge of tears; small squeaks emitting from his small throat.

"You speak of death…like, it was too far away…" she couldn't help saying as Corey quietly walked around Ivory and scooped up the eevee pup.

"I have thought of suicide once," he said aloud without hesitation; turning to look at her, in one of his large hands sat Panther, crying silently with the other stroking his head softly. Ivory watched Ryuu's friend close his eyes, as if thinking of what to say. "If there is anything in this world you must understand, is that to live, you must hunt or be the hunted. I once preferred thinking of myself as invincible at least eight months ago that was when I stood outside of Vermilion's task hall. Before I was in hiding, growing angrier and angrier as I watched Team Rocket shred our Kanto to pieces. Until I figured I had enough, I was foolish…an idiot to think I alone could take on those in that hall."

When he saw that Ivory showed no intention of interrupting, he continued.

"I came up to the hall's entrance as people were leaving to complete the tasks Team Rocket assigned them. Everyone stared at me and my poke'balls, but I didn't care, and neither did they care if I died trying to push Team Rocket out of the city. Unfortunately, it was they that flattened me..." he took in a shuddering breath. "They attacked me with a Fire Blast that totaled my Brute Root…he managed to recover completely, but I woke up several hours later in a TR lab…I was told I was in a coma, where I discovered not only had the Fire Blast destroyed most of my internal organs, but now my life could've gone. It _was_ gone I mean, when I couldn't feel my legs or my waist or practically my whole body…I knew I wasn't paralyzed…not from a Fire attack, no, my body from torso down had melted from the flame."

"But, you…now-"

"Days later after painful experiments Team Rocket used on me did something give, there was an explosion I remember…the face I saw was blurry, the one that came and didn't wince my way. The opposite happened, I recall being lifted and then I…blacked out…" Corey's eyes clamped down tighter before relaxing, until finally he reopened them, his chocolate orbs lingering on her azure pools.

"I woke up not only three weeks ago; whatever was gone was prosthetic." Corey appeared finished; proving this he dropped Panther into her lap and wiped Ivory's cheeks dry of fresh tears that spilled during the story.

"Did you ever find out who it was that rescued you?" Ivory asked, somewhat shaky still.

"Yeah, it was Ryuu. He also saved my whole pokemon team too, at the cost of one of his own." Corey replied before looking away, his right hand went to his ear.

_At the cost of one of his own…_ recalling memories of the Cerulean sisters talking about Ryuu around her, she confirmed something…Ryuu really was looking out for her well being. With a case like Corey's, she could see why he was concerned.

_I'll have to apologize…_ Ivory thought glumly as she looked up when she felt Corey's gaze come down on her.

"C'mon, we're going outside." Instead of replying, Ivory stood with a simple nod. Corey grinned and watched as she recalled her pokemon to their poke'balls.

* * *

_With a smile Ivory watched as a full-grown bellsprout wobbled across the backyard, she giggled at its pillar-like motion. _

_With four tiny ones toddling after her._


	8. Syringes

**Chapter Eight --- Syringes**

Walking around Vermilion wasn't what Ivory expected. Not in the least as she had to stick quite close to Corey. Surprisingly after witnessing his grins and then hearing his story, Corey acted like nothing happened and walked lazily down the street with her on his heels. Ivory watched his back for a while, but as she grew more curious she couldn't help but look around.

Things were so dull here; anyone that was out had nothing more than a blank expression or sometimes a frown when their gazes rested on her. It made her feel like an outcast, but they were casting similar glances at Corey, who could possibly care less if a snorlax popped out of nowhere and chased them down the street.

_Like that will ever happen…_ Ivory had seen boarded up stores and empty alleyways where not even a meowth scampered about and knocking trash cans around. It was like she was wandering in a ghost town, and they were the restless souls that walked about aimlessly without a destination.

"Um…Corey? Where are we going?" Ivory had to ask; she was getting rather bored. Not that she wasn't paying attention to where they were going.

"I'm taking you a little to the east is all." Corey replied, Ivory blinked. Why a little to the east?

They walked on until the amount of buildings began to decrease until there were none at all, at the end of the line of structures however was the beginning of a concrete trail, surrounded by extremely tall grass that probably surpassed the height of an arcanine.

"Looks fun no?" Corey asked teasingly.

"Oh yes…_loads_." Ivory replied, staring from the grass woods to Corey, her gaze asking if they were really going in. He smirked.

"Yes Ivory-chan, we _are_ going inside. Nothing to worry about however, we leave all the testing to Ryuu." Corey said, adding in the part that he was sure to raise her guard. As her frame straightened Corey couldn't help but think '_So Ryuu does know what he's doing,_'

"All right," Ivory gulped, "Let's go in," Corey said as he entered first, Ivory right behind him.

"I'm sure you would like to know that Team Rocket didn't succeed in catching every single pokemon this region can possibly produce 'kay? In fact, they didn't even bother with the wild ones." Corey stated as they traveled along the concrete trail.

"Eh? The only tried to capture trainers' pokemon?" Ivory asked.

"Uh huh, pokemon under the care of trainers are stronger than wild pokemon on an everyday basis. Only at times will a stronger, untamed pokemon like a legendary is said to be stronger than any pokemon alive like let's say, Lugia or Moltres. Powerful, but not unbeatable." Corey explained, Ivory nodded. If something was unbeatable, what hope was there to regaining the hope and freedom in the people of Kanto?

_I'm going to make those dreams come true! _Ivory thought proudly, clenching her fists. Corey made a twittering sort of whistle, making Ivory jump out of her trance.

"What was that for?" Ivory asked with a grimace as he let a shriller one out. "You're a flute Corey!" Ivory said as she rubbed her ears.

"Sorry, but they have to know we're not dangerous by-passers." Corey said.

"Who-"

Suddenly the world around them came alive; spearows flew from above from one side of the concrete trail to the other. Sandshrews and drowzees scampered across, trying to avoid the humans before them. Flapping noises of winged pokemon and busy snorts made Ivory feel much more comfortable than she was in the darkening silence.

"You _know_ the pokemon?" Ivory asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nah, they know who _I am_, but they know enough that they can be seen in my presence. The one who _does know_ them however, well, he's coming." Corey spoke so sure of himself that Ivory didn't bother doubting him, unlike the presence Ryuu supplies when she's around, she had to admit that Corey had that homey feeling about him that she liked.

"Yo! If it ain't Mus'ter Corey sir, how're doin'?" an elderly man bounced out of the grass on their left with energy, Ivory stepped closer to Corey as the old man's gaze settled on her. He was pretty scrawny with a pair of cut pants and a green yukata with a forest green sash. His feet were bare and rough looking as well as his hands. His head however was bald with a white mustache alone adorned the front of his face with a hooked nose and hazel eyes. "Eh? Who's a she?" The man pointed at Ivory, Corey put a hand on her head.

"Let's save the introduction somewhere else 'kay old man?" Corey asked, the old man grunted, but his eyes still twinkled.

"As crude as'sh usual, c'mon." The old man led them into the grass, however when Corey motioned for her to go first she hesitated.

"But it's so thick," she stated reasonably.

"The whole point to a good hideout, now come on. The worst he can do is fall in a hole himself." Corey said.

"I heard that ya whelp!" the old man cried out from somewhere ahead of them.

"If you insist…" the homey feeling got to her, it told her to trust Corey, even if he was one of Ryuu's friends she still felt like she could walk blindfolded in front of him.

Ivory separated the grass stalks as she went in, she spotted the old man walking through ahead like a knife cutting butter. She figured he must have inhabited this place long before Team Rocket took over Kanto, she wondered if he lived alone? Would explain why he slurred, probably drank a lot or simply was crazed from solitude.

"C'mon now! Don't lag behind!" the old man howled, Corey sighed from behind her.

"Don't worry, he's just an old fart." Corey said with a smirk. The old man looked back again, glaring at Corey. Ivory smiled nervously as the glare deepened with growing aggravation.

"If you keep it up _Stitches_ I'm going to have to tear you limb from limb!" Instead of striking a cord in Corey like Ivory expected from something such as a personal insult, Corey only smirked; amused.

"Is that the best you've got old man?"

"So much it'll make your head spin!"

"Well, at least my head is screwed on right."

"Little ungrateful…twit…" Ivory heard a string of curses under the old man's breath as they journeyed further in the midst of the grass jungle. Pokemon noises were held all around, giving Ivory such a hopeful feeling that the world wasn't completely different that she had to feel a burden lift from her shoulders.

It settled back down when they went quiet.

Both the old man and Corey froze; Corey's hold on Ivory's shoulders made her do the same. Ivory looked up at Corey's stern face, his eyes darting from one piece of the grass woods to another part. When she looked at the old man, she saw he was doing the same thing, with his mustache firm over his strict lips.

Ivory felt Corey jerk her from the old man to him; his eyes darted towards the old man, who motioned for them to hurry after him. None of them said a word till the old man stopped and bent down. Being behind him, Ivory had no idea what the man was doing until she heard a soft knocking. It wasn't the kind of knock you would present to a door, but a pattern of some sort. The old man's knuckles must have hit whatever it was at least thirteen times in a different cord before something slid open. The old man stood and pointed his hand at the small opening in the ground, where he then pulled back the branches of the bush that covered it.

"Ladies first," Corey said as he pushed Ivory towards it.

"Fine," she whispered as she sat down and scooted inside.

"Ac-" she cried out as she fell inside, but a hand clasped over her mouth before she could let anything else escape.

"Ssh, scouts." A voice muttered into her ear. She felt her body deposited to the side with the strong grip still over her mouth as a soft 'thud' greeted the ground. The entrance slid shut, leaving whoever was in the place with Ivory alone in the dark.

Whoever was holding onto her was right. Several minutes that felt like decades passed, in which just as several steps were taken above her. Team Rocket scouted this area? And for two years they've stayed hidden? Surely someone would've realized it was hollow ground, but they could just be idiots or those who oppose Team Rocket but were forced against the good of nation to join them…ugh, her brain hurt from the possibilities.

"Area C-78 clear. Just a false alarm." A gruff voice spoke; the tone made it clear this place was often 'just a false alarm'. It was a wonder they weren't discovered yet…

"They're a gone." The old man's voice came from her left and a second later light flooded her vision.

Ivory gave a loud groan of dislike as she shut her eyes shut and brought a hand over them. The hand around her mouth slid away and she was free again.

"That was a close one Corey." The male voice that told her there were scouts said, she blinked a bit before they fully adjusted to the light, now she could see well what was around her.

She sat on some flat platform, where above it was the hole out of here and below her a room of sorts.

Everything was dirt-colored except for a few chairs and a radio not to far off with a few wires here and there. A single light bulb hung from each of the four corners of the room and when she slid down with the rest of the human beings (there were three others other than herself), she saw a nidorino snuggled up next to a ragged red armchair, snoozing away. Apparently not awoken by the earlier alarm.

"Why find it now when they couldn't find it before?" Corey replied confidently with a grin. "Anyway, this is Ivory – Ivory?"

"Uh-oh! What?" It took Ivory a few seconds to figure out her name was mentioned and a second more for her to look at Corey with a questioning gaze. He let out a silent sigh as the old man and a young boy a year or so younger than Corey stared at her.

"This is Ivory Koguu, Ivory this is Jasper Hardman and Dave Witton." Corey introduced, pointing from the old man to the young boy. Jasper gave a friendly wave with his wrinkly hand and Dave, for some reason he was flushing, gave a weak greeting.

"She's going to be in Vermilion for a while, under Ryuu's orders of course." Corey stated with an air of mockery in his voice. Ivory raised a brow and Jasper gave a chuckle.

"Boy doin' some good eh?" Jasper asked.

"I didn't tell ya how they got here yet did I?" Corey asked, his face going stern. Dave gave a look that said 'just how many ways is there to getting somewhere?'. He obviously had his thoughts on unmarked passageways a good way from TR eyes…but then again, he probably hasn't been out of this place as much as he wishes…

"Where are we?" Ivory figured it was her turn to speak up. Dave blinked.

"Eh? This is a detachment from the basement beneath the security station ahead. You know? Where after that you enter a bridge that's part of Route 12?" Ivory hasn't been there herself but she had a good idea, namely from the atlases she had a hard time memorizing back in Mahogany Town under her grandfather's supervision.

Either way, Ivory gave a nod in understanding. So they were underground on Route 11? But with Kanto infested with Team Rocket thugs how could they keep such a simple hideout hidden?

While Corey retold the story to good ol' Jasper and Dave, Ivory let herself wander around. Her curiosity led her to the slumbering nidorino and by the looks of it, was pretty elderly himself.

He was a bit bigger than Ivory suspected any nidorino could be, it had the same coloring with a hint of fading due to age, but besides the look of added weight, the nidorino seemed to be in good health. She would believe that if it weren't for the bags beneath his eyes…

"That there is ol' Phor. He's getting on in his 'ears, same as me." It was Jasper; he was looking over at Ivory who has crouched down to get a better look at the poison pin pokemon. Dave gave off an uncaring expression and Corey looked completely relaxed.

"He looks completely wiped out…" she muttered to herself darkly, but Jasper laughed, apparently hearing it.

"He's a sired a lot of lil' ones hun! No grandparent gets much sleep with fifty-four children and a hundred wee bitty ones from his kin!" Jasper found it funny as he chuckled some more before turning back to Corey, but then he added something on.

"Scratch 'im between those ears, but avoid the horns. Ol' but deadly." Jasper spoke before again Corey began talking away.

Ivory on the other hand, did just as Jasper suggested. And in an instant, ol' Phor gave off a crackling purr. Without opening his eyes, Phor sat there contentedly, allowing her to touch him. Despite the wariness of the coat, the texture was softer than she expected with a few bumps here and there. Nothing abnormal at all.

_What a big softie! _She thought with a smile, forgetting past troubles as she continued. As if hearing her unspoken statement, Phor opened a bleary eye with what looked like a grin. His eye was a powder amethyst; wisdom and fatigue written all over his aging iris.

Giving a grunt he made a sudden move that toppled Ivory to a complete sitting position as Phor placed his head on her lap. Ivory flushed slightly as she heard three people behind her laugh.

"'e likes ya hun!" Jasper laughed, Dave made another weak saying under his breath while Corey looked smug.

"Phor you old coot! You already got a wife!" Corey said; amused. At this, Jasper stopped laughing all together and gave a grim sigh.

"Not no more, she pass' aways in her sleep a last nigh' she did." Jasper said, Corey dropped his happy face and frowned with a worn look to it. Ivory managed a sad smile; he had _smiled_ at her.

"Why 'tis makes me happy the ol' Phor got to look a happy once more before 'is time comes." Jasper said quietly so Ivory nor Phor could hear, Dave and Corey leaned in to hear more since it seemed Jasper had much to tell.

"He hadn't been so happy since a last nigh', though who a could a blame 'im? But before that, here a Dave came and a tol' me he wouldn't eat, 'e said Phor wouldn't move a 'udge towards his usual meal. That a got me a worryin' so I went in and a checked on 'im. I found a nothin' wrong with 'im and now, today's 'is fourth day of no food. We're a losin' 'im…" Jasper said in whisper so quiet Corey and Dave were mere millimeters away from hitting him face-first.

Yet despite their efforts, Ivory had a feeling what they were talking about and it made her all the more depressed as she sat there, knowing she was petting a dying pokemon.

"But you lived a full life now didn't you…" she said, equally as quiet so as not to catch the others' attention. Phor however, slept on; unaware he was being spoken to.

"Hey? Ivory, we're going to go and check on some things why don't you come along?" Corey asked, Ivory looked up and as brightly as she could she replied –

"Nah! You're too boring! I'll stay here and keep Phor company!" Ivory replied teasingly. Corey face-faulted.

"Gee! _Thanks!_" Corey snapped.

"If you a come lookin' for us we'll be to the left and then to the right and then to the-"

"Just stay here," Corey interrupted as Jasper attempted to give directions to their future location. "We won't be long." And with that, Ivory sweat-dropped as Jasper and Corey's bickering echoed down to her as they ventured further.

"I would hate to be in Dave's shoes right now." She said, Phor gave a snort.

"Ya know? You remind me of my grandpapa, he's Pryce. The gym leader of the Mahogany gym! He's the Ice Master!" Ivory stated with pride, Phor now semi-awake, listened intently. "Before we came to Kanto, some two and a half years ago, my dad and I lived with Grandpapa. He made me do a lot of schoolwork since there wasn't a school up there, just Lake of Rage and his gym, so basically I was home-schooled by him."

"I remember one time I went against his wishes and slipped into the training room where I first saw his Ice pokemon. Everything went real quiet; Grandpapa was really scary back then, when I was about six. Now I understand why. When I ventured into the training room and when the pokemon went quiet and stared at me, I knew I did something I shouldn't have done." She took a deep breath and continued.

"I was talking to them and walking around them then, when I stumbled onto the edge of the pool and fell in the deep part. I got scared and panicked, I didn't know how to swim and it seemed like forever until someone pulled me out. Of course it ended up being my grandpapa and he gave me a real beating after I settled down a bit. Ever since I never entered the training room again, I never saw those pokemon for a while until…well, Dad got called down to Goldenrod on something about his graphics when I was about nine and he took me down there with him."

Phor twitched his ear slightly, but she paid no heed.

"When we came back, Grandpapa had changed…he never really said anything much about the week we were gone but he mentioned something about a trainer with a pikachu and a red gyarados. He never gave either of us full details, but I think that trainer with a pikachu did something to him, something good. Because for the first time he allowed me back into the training room and introduced me all to his pokemon, including one that he told me was an old friend, one I didn't see before. A piloswine, a big happy one too!"

"_Nido?_"

"Silly I know, I never learned how to swim since then. I have this _waterphobia_, and here I'm saying this when I got a squirtle for a starter. Funny huh?"

"Are you talking to Phor?" Ivory nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned around to face Dave, his face grumpy-looking with a brow raised. Phor gave an incoherent grunt before yawning.

"Yeah, so?" Ivory retorted not unkindly. "Dontcha talk to your pokemon?"

"Did he talk back?" Ivory gave him a questioning glance.

"What's it to you?" This Dave character was rubbing her the wrong way for some reason; he gave her such a look that was just asking for her to bellow at him.

"Just askin'." He replied hotly, it was the start of the first real conversation between them and they were already heading in the wrong direction. She wondered what happen to the boy who flushed before? Shunned from society might have taken a toll on him.

"What did he say?" he asked with an 'all right' tone, Ivory brushed his earlier attitude off and gave him a blank expression.

"If I ever went swimming again? The question sort of came out of the blue though…" He suddenly got into her face, turning her torso around to face him as he crouched down to her height.

"Can you speak Poke'tongue?" he asked seriously. Phor gave the boy an interesting look that crossed between 'shut up' and 'huh?'.

"Poke'tongue?" _Oh, that cool ability to speak pokemon? Wasn't that in a story somewhere at home? _Ivory looked off into space in thought.

A shake brought her back down.

"Do you?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

Oh yes, he was pushing all the wrong buttons. One of them from him touching her in such a crude manner.

"Why are YOU here? Weren't you with Corey and Jasper?" she asked, shoving his hands off her shoulders.

"They sent me back to fetch you, they said they had something you might find interesting." He said as he stood up and straightened out his old T-shirt with a faded red poke'ball logo on it.

Before she could detest Phor moved himself back to the floor and went back to a sound sleep.

"C'mon." Dave ordered as he started strolling away with his hands in his pockets. His floppy brown hair bouncing with his movement.

"I'm coming, I'm coming…stupid boy thinks he can tell me what to do, but…" with a smile, she turned back to Phor, and cracking her poke'balls open.

"_Squirtle!_"

"_Spearow!_"

"_Eevee!_" The three pokemon smiled when they looked up at their trainer, who was (for their relief) still intact.

"Why don't you guys talk with Phor here, I bet he's been getting pretty lonesome around here." And with that and a nod from each of her pokemon Ivory went off after Dave through a roughly cut hole in the wall that led through a hallway.

And another hallway…

The left through another hallway…

Then there was a right that led to yet ANOTHER hallway…

"If we do anymore of this 'left and right', I'll never see my pokemon again!" Ivory cried out as she followed after Dave with a stifled growl. She heard Dave grunt in aggravation.

"I'll tape your mouth shut if you complain AGAIN! It's hard enough as it is to keep secrets these days! Be happy I know where we're going!" Dave yelled at her as they headed deeper into the maze.

When they finally reached what seemed like the end of the hallway, Ivory saw that they were on some sort of bridge. A glass one that you could see through the bottom of it. She noticed above it was easily hidden by a thick layer of foliage. The glass bridge emerged from one side of a cliff all the way down to another cliff where a steel door sat.

When Ivory peered down closer, she saw rushing rapids and mini waterfalls dotting the space between the two drop-offs. She paled; she didn't do so well with heights similar as she felt with water.

"C'mon, just to that door." As if sensing her discomfort Dave urged her on to just outside the door. Glaring red eyes blinked open and stared up at a jittery Ivory and annoyed Dave.

With an effortless push, Dave easily opened the seemly heavy door. Ivory looked at it suspiciously but a sharp pain snapped her focus towards the boy trainer.

"What was that for-" She stopped when she noticed a piece of her hair stuck in between his fingers. He led her in before turning back to the closing door and placing the piece of hair down on a piece of hardware that comes out for a disc of some sort.

"This door opens depending on the person touching it. If it doesn't recognize your DNA by touch, you're basically unable to come in here completely." Dave explained as the hardware swallowed Ivory's hair.

"**DNA sample accepted.**" A mechanical voice spoke quietly; Ivory blinked as Dave headed behind her.

"This way." He said, again Ivory made to follow him. Eyeing the strange equipment and machinery around them. Everything was clean, but nothing seemed used.

"This is an old Rocket lab." Dave stated quietly, Ivory gasped.

"Isn't that risky? Wouldn't Team Rocket have traced back here and search it?" Ivory asked.

"Hey, you're smarter than you let on." Dave said with a sneer, she huffed. "But yeah, you have a point. That's why we made the DNA door, that's one of the Earth Organization's original devices, but this place is so old – it probably goes about ten years ago or so – that when we did find it, it was abandoned and Jasper discovered all links to this place have been demolished since no Rocket has showed up here."

"Couldn't there be special cameras left here and stuff?" Ivory asked.

"You watch too many movies."

"Do not, and I was just asking!"

"Well, no. Our pokemon and our eyes searched this place. We even had RosaJoy up here a while ago, no such thing as hidden cameras, forgotten explosives, no self-destruct systems. It's perfectly safe here, for the time-being." Dave explained as they approached another door.

In bold, white letters it said _Executive_.

"This place never housed Giovanni, an Executive Rocket was in charge here when it was running. I'll let Jasper and Corey explain the rest." Dave finished as he pushed the door open again, when Ivory peered inside she saw a little white room with a desk against the wall. Above it was a one way mirror.

"Ah, finally. How long has it been…an hour?" It was Corey.

"No, forty-six minutes tops." Dave replied bluntly as he went aside, revealing Ivory to Corey and Jasper. Corey's hands were folded across his chest and Jasper's were at his sides.

Both appeared grim at her appearance.

"Hey Ivory, you're probably wondering what this place is eh?" Corey asked, Ivory blinked. Then she looked through the mirror and into what looked like a battle arena. A very large one with bleachers on the side and lit lights above the mirror.

"This is the top box to the Rocket-made battle arena. This is possibly how they passed time and made calculations." Corey said.

"Huh?" It apparently hadn't been cleaned for the last ten years; things littered the ground below her as she pressed her face against the glass, they were too tiny to make out but when the light hit just right, the things shined.

"Those a things yer a lookin' at that er a shinin' ain't jewels gurl, that there 'em things are sa'renges." Jasper spoke sternly.

"Syringes." Corey didn't appear in his usual joking manner. Ivory paled as she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"You mean those are needles?" Ivory asked, Corey gave a solemn nod.

"The executive seemed to stay up here while the Grunts duked it out down there with their pokemon. This was their entertainment, with scientists on the side. We tested the needles and syringes, they held steroids and other drugs." Corey explained.

"Them Grunts wanted to 'um win ev'n though it appeared like fun and gimes. But they've pois'd their pokemon when uthers weren't a lookin'. Lots of lives were kill'ed here each time uh these here things were 'eld." Jasper continued, as images ran through her head, Ivory wanted to let loose her stomach insides.

"This wasn't just entertainment, it was experimentation."


	9. Toxic Burdens

**Chapter Nine --- Toxic Burdens  
**

Ivory might have looked stupid, but she didn't care. Her imagination had gone wild with what might've become of those poor pokemon those needles had embedded themselves into. She herself was a needle-phobic, but this really takes the cake.

Her forehead was chilled by the touch of the glass seeing out of the top box. Her eyes glazed over and fists clenched firmly over the bar provided beneath it.

Jasper and Dave began talking quickly yet quietly behind her about 'needle machinery' and Corey mentioned something about nidorans. However, even though her stomach was completely settled, Ivory still continued to feel sick from the thoughts of tortured pokemon.

_I'm so glad I left my pokemon with Phor…_ she thought gratefully, she couldn't have shown her own pokemon what Team Rocket had done to their own kind. Like her, they were still too young, even younger…

_**BLEEP! **_

_**BLEEP! **_

_**BLEEP!**_

She leaped from the glass and landed on her rear-end five feet back. Corey, Jasper and Dave themselves leaped, but into action.

"What the hell?! Is Mt. Fiji erupting!?" Ivory cried as the ground shook slightly, she couldn't get up with quaking and falling to the floor three times.

"It's our call system! Someone's in trouble!" Corey shouted as the noise began to die down and he pulled Ivory to her feet once he noticed she was on the ground (around five minutes later). Jasper was pushing buttons and flipping switches and Dave ran to a screen and placed headphones and a mouthpiece around his head.

"You would think it would be a little less subtle, even if it was urgent." Ivory said under her breath as she fell to the ground again, Corey went to help her again but the sirens went dead. It caught all of them off guard, including Ivory who had no idea what it meant.

"Could someone please speak on my behalf, you know so I know I haven't gone deaf or anything?" Ivory growled sarcastically as she wobbled to her feet, her legs still bearing the shock of the sudden quake.

"It's coming from…wait, NO! The lethal target is coming at us from the west! Straight at us!" Dave shouted at the other three; Ivory peered at a very concerned Corey and a serious Jasper.

"We must send word to Lt. Surge! I trust you can do that Dave? Good, Corey, rally up Velma, Cortez and Nero! Ivory, come with me." Jasper ordered as Dave and Corey set out with their instructions, it took Ivory a minute to realize she was mentioned and took off after Jasper as he vanished behind the door they came in at.

If the tunnels were long before, they seemed even longer as she practically sprinted the way she came, Jasper was certainly in good shape for an old guy.

"We need to put you into the safety carriage, it's what we found the safest refuge for anyone here! You and your pokemon along with Phor will be safe down there!" Jasper spoke hurriedly as he quickened his pace; Ivory found it difficult to speak within rapid breaths.

"No-I…want-to fight!" Ivory cried out as she came to a stop beside Jasper and very well came close to collapsing on the floor, all that working out at Cerulean still didn't do much for her!

"No," he spoke firmly, as if pinpointing a child. He righted her shoulders and made her stare him in the eye. "You are to stay in HERE. You can't do much right now, maybe later. Just heed me please, even if we don't know each other well at the moment. Phor!"

Ivory's gaze shifted to the room she first saw of this bewildering place. Her pokemon were wrapped around the elderly pokemon, however Phor seemed unshaken compared to the other pokemon. Phor's eyes blinked at Jasper with utmost wisdom.

"Like I need to tell you what to do," Jasper said with a strained chuckle, Phor almost seemed to smile but gently began shaking Ivory's pokemon from his rigid frame. Jasper watched wearily as Phor than managed to walk and lead Kameko, Aldara and Panther towards them.

"All right," Jasper mumbled as he turned around and faced the wall behind them, he put a hand on it. A light burst from the wall and engulfed Jasper's palm, then went out, a rectangular piece of wall slammed back an inch then slid smoothly to the left. Revealing a doorway.

"Go inside and don't come out-"

"**Jasper! It's speed is increasing!"** Dave's voice shot out of something that Ivory now noticed a clear earpiece inside Jasper's ear.

"Keep it down you little-I'm coming! Go!" Jasper cried as he sped off, leaving Ivory and the pokemon alone in the room.

"_Nido?_" Phor seemed to question, looking up at Ivory. She blinked and looked up into space.

She didn't like the thought of running out of a battle, especially since how she had been in the past few days. She wasn't a good actress; everyone seemed to know that now. And the more someone told her to stand aside the more she wanted to be in their way and prove she was a worthy obstacle. Next to that, it bothered her even more that people trusted she COULDN'T do MUCH now. She didn't have as much experience as those who had been here during Team Rocket's takeover, but now, she can make up for that.

She had enough regrets as it was she wasn't going to pile anymore if she could help it.

"I'm sorry Phor," Ivory apologized down at the old poison-pin pokemon. And with great understanding, Phor's eyes twinkled and he gave a toothy grin.

"_Nidorino,_" **"I accept your choice," **He said, unbeknownst to Ivory, but with her pokemon beaming up at her, she had a good idea what he had said.

"All right, let's show them what we're made of!" she cried happily, knowing with the wisest member here at the base's approval, she didn't have to worry about feeling guilty.

* * *

"**What's goin' on Dave?"**

"I dunno! It sort of…stopped."

"**Wha' do ya mean it STOPPED?"**

"As in came to a halt, motionless, how many ways do I need to say it before you register it!" Dave snarled as he looked up at the screen where it gave live footage of Jasper, Corey, a nidoqueen known as Velma and two nidokings named Nero and Cortez. All three glaring viscously towards the greenery two miles out from the former TR base. Jasper and Corey had fighting stances ready, their poke'balls at the ready.

"Did you get Ivory and her pokemon to the refuge?" Dave asked, Jasper huffed.

"**Ha, of course I did, and 'hey say mem'ry's the first to 'o! Or was i' hearing, or see'ing…somethin' along those lines, anyway, has IT moved yet?"**

"No, it's just _standing_ there." Dave replied clattering away at the keys fiercely, a smaller box up in the corner of the screen bore down on the target, revealing a bleary image.

"Here, I got a snapshot, let me enhance it." Dave said as he clicked a button repeatedly. Lines ran from the top to the bottom, clearing out the fuzziness. Dave's eyes widened with recognition.

"Jasper! It's a freakin' steelix!" Dave cried into the earpiece, making Jasper grasp his ear in agony.

"**Calm down sonny! Oy, a stee'ix ya say? 'Ear that Corey? Eh, 'ow 'ig? The thin' was a goin' fifty miles an 'our!" **Jasper growled a steelix in these parts? They have already seen the pokemon species mix into Kanto as it had one of the most advanced and challenging gyms and not to forget the Indigo Plateau! But something so wild and big out in the open, it was most definitely of Team Rocket's.

"Er…I guess around…whoa, wow…38"7'!! CRAP!" Dave shouted, Jasper let out a whistle.

"**Some ma'or experitmentin' I see, let me 'ring their 'ecks…"** Jasper said, then the once quiet forest whirled back into chaos.

"Wow…I mean – WATCH OUT!" Dave yelped as a mechanical, three-fingered claw burst from the ground, it launched into the air, grasping the chemicals in it.

* * *

"Is there an'thing you might wanna add sonny?" Jasper asked as he released his ear and prepared to throw a ball. 

"Besides pointing out there's a claw coming out of the ground, like how big's the machinery it's attached to?" Corey asked, the ground began to quiver.

"**I'm getting very strange readings…give me a min!"**

"We 'ardly 'ave a sec'unt!" Jasper cried as chunks of dirt spurted from the ground as a giant sphere submerged from the ground. Corey, Jasper and the pokemon backed away instinctively.

"**It's definitely Team Rocket's! But it's a new product; it's nowhere on our database! Be careful!"**

"Like we haven't been in this kind of a situation before?" Corey asked sarcastically as he brandished a poke'ball. He stiffened as a small door slid open on the sphere; a bright mechanical red orb gazed out, rotating then stretching out on a thin neck.

"Oh gawd…" Jasper muttered as the ground quaked again, this time the rest of the sphere emerged and with it came another arm, it's claws also stretching out as if waking from a good night's sleep.

"What the hell…" Corey stuttered as the shadow engulfed all five of them.

The eye rotated again, mechanical squeaking emitting from it as it did and with a jerk, it turned onto Corey, it's beady pupil growing larger as if it were gazing at a priceless jewel.

"Remember! Don't destroy you completely! This is a new one!" 

"Thank ya for 'emindin' us boy," Jasper replied quietly as the monstor of a machine stood silently.

_It's waiting for us to make the first move, _Corey thought with anger. _This isn't the first time a machine with a bit of brain came crashing down on us, but for it to be so close to the hideout…is it possible Team Rocket actually remembers their old HQ? If so, were they coming out here for the location or did they find out about us? But now the question is…what can it do and how can we stop it? _Corey thought with accurate precision.

Time didn't seem present at this event, the most-likely-lethal-machine was positioned to attack and the opposition was stock-still.

When this battle will begin had already started, almost two years ago…

* * *

"You call this a short-cut?" Ivory asked, though she was sure that's what Phor was hinting at when he motioned for her to follow him through a hidden door. 

Ahead of her, Phor grunted, as if saying 'I'm older and I can still out-pace you?' Ivory gave a displeased sigh, she was sure she was crawling through a vent. Actually, they probably WERE going through a vent.

"Are we almost there?" she whined.

"_Nidorino, rino._" **"Stop complaining, we'll get there when we get there." **Phor grunted as he came to a fork. From behind him, he heard her give another sigh.

"_Nido,_" he took a right, and once they reached a dead-end, Ivory about collapsed until he nudged it with his horn, the dead-end became, well, a not so dead end.

Sunlight streamed through, but there wasn't much of it. Phor went through the exit with Ivory on his heals; though she wasn't too close, she didn't want to be stabbed by his barbs.

"I was only down to there for a few hours, but man, can someone turn off the sun?" Ivory asked as she attempted to get to her feet. Phor was sniffing the air as she rubbed her eyes.

"What is it Phor?" she asked calmly. Phor's left ear twitched, and then he jerked his head to his left. His eyes narrowed, Ivory was all for a battle at the moment and her hopes were screaming for it to be a Rocket so she could kick some butt and prove her worth to this expedition.

She was however, not disappointed.

"Yo, brat, what're you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?" oh yes, a stupid, lesser Rocket. A grunt. Which was perfect, seeing as she wasn't ready for an executive yet.

But he wasn't alone, as a man around his twenties climbed out, two others joined him, one female and the other a male. All bore the 'R' and wore the black outfit of a Grunt.

Fortunately, the vent they just took to the outside world was covered by an abundance of grass that somehow didn't bother Ivory as she climbed out.

"I could ask the same of you?" Ivory retorted, not about ready to lose her confidence, the three grunts smirked. The one male, the first she spotted was lanky, but probably around five and a half feet with tuffs of brown hair coming out from under his hat. The other male was bigger with dark skin and dirty blonde hair. The woman had short violet hair and a pale complexion.

"_Nidorino! Rino!_" Phor snarled as he stepped towards the trio.

"Now, now, we're only a scouting trio." The woman Grunt said with a sneer, Ivory frowned.

"You sound smart for a couple of inferior Rockets." Ivory replied, smirking a smirk that rivaled the woman's. She snarled, Phor rolled his eyes.

Kids these days… 

"I don't know what you're doing out here, but you were caught with a pokemon and that in it's self is a crime, I also see poke'balls in your hand." The brown-haired male Rocket said, pulling and maximizing a poke'ball of his own from his belt.

"Really? The last I checked there was only one, see, it's singular." Ivory pointed as she flashed Kameko's ball at them. The tiny turtle stuck out her tongue at the three.

They growled.

"You aggravating little brat! You'll regret that! Go! Venomoth809!" The male cried, Ivory reconsidered and switched Kameko for another pokemon.

"I choose Aldara!" The spearow cried out as she joined the battlefield, glaring menacingly at the giant purple moth.

"_Venomoth._" The moth clucked, Phor peered from the bug pokemon to the bird.

"Poisonpowder!" The Grunt ordered.

"_Venomoth!_" The purple pokemon shuttered its wing, creating a haze of violet powder. Ivory was ready however.

"Blow it away Aldara! Flap your wings!" Ivory cried.

"_Spearow!_" Ivory knew that the wings of a spearow were weak and were hardly strong enough to keep the bird airborne, they always had to flap hard to keep in the air but when Aldara blew the dangerous fog back at its user, she couldn't have been prouder of her little bird.

"Way to go Aldara!" Ivory cried as the venomoth cried out in agony as the substance terrorized its skin, the grunts screamed as the powder came in contact with them too. The three were clutching their faces, seeing as it was the only skin visible to the powder.

Aldara crowed happily, but when the venomoth crashed to the ground and blood oozed from between the Rockets' fingers, both trainer and pokemon stopped and watched. The venomoth's skin was turning an ugly crimson and the Rockets were in as much pain as the pokemon.

"Holy…does poisonpowder hurt that bad?" Ivory asked Aldara, she shrugged.

"PLEASE-HELP US!" Ivory would've snorted out of cockiness had it not been for the savagely damaged skin hanging from the face of the Grunt that released the venomoth. Ivory narrowed her eyes.

"Why should I!?" Ivory cried, the man howled.

"The toxins in the powder have been artificially advanced! It's ten times powerful than the average venomoth's poisonpowder! IT'S EATING OUR FLESH!" The man spoke the truth, but what really struck a cord in Ivory was the venomoth, it didn't choose this fate.

As it lay cringing on the ground, the wings practically molting from the body, she quickly released Kameko.

"Water Gun 'em Kameko! Enough just to wash off the poisonpowder!" Ivory cried, the tiny turtle swiftly nodded and launched her attack, yet in a softer version.

Moments later, the water gun died down till it completely ebbed away. Kameko and Ivory gazed sadly at the four, Aldara's wings were the only thing making sound by this time. The venomoth was by far, the worst of the four. The wings had been slashed and seemed to have been eaten away at every edge. It's body brutally harmed, it was subconscious.

"Hey…" Ivory didn't give much interest in the humans as she cautiously approached the bug pokemon. It didn't even try to move as she crouched near it.

"Sssh, it'll be all right." Ivory cooed as she went out to stroke any unharmed skin she could find. She found none, and once she _tapped_ its flesh, a speedy parade of images and sounds shot through her head. Tanks, bubbles, people in white coats and Team Rocket grunts, needles, tanks, blood, needles…

Then, as quickly as it had come, it vanished.

"What…the…?" Ivory couldn't form a sentence, sure she was shocked, but her body made no reaction to this strange experience. The venomoth gave a slight twitch of its oddly bent antenna. It's eyelids drooping.

"Was that…your past?" Ivory had to ask the curiosity bubbled within her. The venomoth, it didn't need to reply. Its answer bubbled to the surface through giant tears it was shedding.

"_Veno…moth…_" the venomoth squeaked. Unconsciously, Ivory knew Phor was there beside her.

"Phor…is she dying?" Ivory asked, her eyes brimming with tears.

"_Nido._" It was a sure yes; Phor was brutally honest too.

"W-Why…she has kids…south in the Berry Forest…they need her…so why..?" Ivory's shoulders shook, if the venomoth was dying, then the humans were dying. The two races were dying. This endless violence and road of torture…it kept on killing those that were needed to balance out the powers of Nature.

"Because to Team Rocket, it's just another experimental failure." She recognized that voice, and by God she wished he would've come later. When she wasn't about ready to bawl her eyes out. He had seen her cry so much, she was certain she was a petty, little, naïve girl in his eyes by now. "But then again, Nature probably wills it to, to die and go on in a better place."

She felt Ryuu crouch down and reached for the venomoth. His hand found a good sensitive spot, as the venomoth gave its last happy vibration of a purr before its heart finally gave out.

Ivory was on her knees now, entranced by what Ryuu had done. To pokemon, he could be tougher than nails, but what he had just demonstrated, was great kindness as a farewell gift from this world. If Ryuu could be strict to humans, could he be nice too? However, these thoughts welled up deep emotions she thought never to exist. Tears, big and fat tears slowly walked down her cheeks.

_Venomoth…_ after a long life that went from a short-lived happiness to the anguish of every-day experimentation, its life was finally at peace and restful. It seemed asleep, well; it would if it weren't so…_dead._

A choking sound surfaced, as she thought deeper into it. The heat her body radiated of instantly felt cooled by the touch of Kameko's paw; a light peck on her knee from Aldara tore her up inside. It was because of the order she gave Aldara that gave them this result. The venomoth could've lived if she just gave a different order…

"Do NOT look back into the past and start thinking about what could've been done Ivory." Ryuu stated, as if reading her mind. It was like a lecture he was giving her again, but unlike before, he was kinder in a way, his voice almost…understanding.

"_Rino…_" Phor brought her head up with the tip of his muzzle, an elderly grin bestowed upon his features.

**"No regrets…"**

"Don't think of it." Ryuu said, obviously straining to keep his tone level, when she turned away slightly and looked down he lost it.

"_Kami! Damn it all Ivory! Drop it!_" Ryuu yelled as he pulled her into a tight embrace, his heart racing against hers, each trying to understand the other with all their might. Ivory did stop thinking and sobs racked her body, while Phor, Aldara and Kameko sat and waited patiently.

Both needed to vent from the past few events.

* * *

"Dag gone it 'tall!" Jasper cried as he jumped around another attack made by the claw. The red orb of an eye shifted left to right, then with a quick jerk, the claws and arms were pulled inside of its shell, the eye followed and the door shut with a 'click'. 

Corey panted, but knew it wasn't over. Nero and Velma helped pull a wounded Cortez to the side and Jasper shouted orders over to Dave.

"Send out a few more nidokings Da-"

"No! Wait! Go! Sandslash!" Corey cried, releasing one of his own team.

"_Slash!_" the pokemon squeaked, trying to sound as mighty as it could with its high-pitched cry.

"What do you plan on doin' sonny?" Jasper cried, Corey winked in his direction.

"_I have a plan!"_ Corey seemed to say as he then turned somber and turned to his pokemon.

"Let's Dig Sandslash!" Corey cried, "You know what to do!"

"_Slash!_" the sandslash gave a nod in agreement as it leaped into the air and spun like a drill back into the ground.

Although Jasper has known about Corey and the depth of his friendship with his team, he was always amazed with just how 'deep' that connection was, to where Corey didn't even have to speak to get his message through.

_I hope you see the end boy,_ Jasper thought as he then got down to business.

"Forge' that Dave! Jus' get Cortez en and treated!" Jasper cried.

"Right!" 

"All righ'! Leave Cortez be! We need ya two!" Jasper cried Velma and Nero shown reluctance but ran back into the action as the sphere began to move.

"Now it's literally on da roll!" Jasper cried as the sphere spun and gained momentum in Corey's direction.

With a whistle, a rhyhorn dashed out from the bushes and Corey mounted it as it ran by, Jasper caught on to the strategy.

"'Urry! He's gonna need 'elp!" Jasper said, as he led Nero and Velma towards the rolling sphere and the rhyhorn.

"Keep it up Rhyhorn!" Corey shouted over the roar of the machine against the earth.

"_Ggggrrrr!_" Rhyhorn replied as it too quickened its pace.

As they headed towards a cliff, Dave grew frantic.

"You're going to ram right into the main deck!" 

"It's no ship boy!"

"**What do you suppose I call it then!? I'm sorry, but that's all I can think about right now! But if he does what I think he's going to do there's going to be one heck of an explosion!"**

"Keep yer pants on sonny! Corey kno's what he's a doin'!"

"**Wow, don't hear that one everyday."**

"Can it you twit!" Jasper cried as Rhyhorn took a massive leap out of the way as Dave predicted the sphere crashed head-on into the cliff. Almost instant, as it shifted into a different direction, Velma and Nero took either side and managed to keep it from turning.

"That ain't gonna hold for long Corey!" Jasper warned, and as if on cue, the compartment for the eye slid open and the red eye gleamed, but as it climbed out, a massive flame melted it down to a mere wire.

The flame struck the openings of the claws and managed to seal them shut as well.

"Ah! It's Blaziken!" Jasper cried as the firebird landed beside the old man. "Where migh' Ryuu be eh?" Blaziken blinked without a response further than that, the sun lowering down behind its brave figure.

"_Blaziken." _Blaziken growled as he looked to his left.

Rhyhorn with Corey still mounted halted beside Jasper.

"Yo, Blaziken! Where's Ryuu-" Corey stopped as he followed Blaziken's gaze, he broke out a grin. "ABOUT TIME KOUKA!"

A broad, young man stood with a powerful, dominating aura radiating from him, his front features dark because of the setting sun behind him, however you could a see a fine line of bright teeth as the man named Kouka gave a grin in return.

"Hey! Didn't start the fun without me eh! Whoa! Watch out!" Kouka shouted as the sphere managed to escape Nero's grasp, where Velma then decided to slip.

"Rhyhorn! HURRY!" Corey cried as he leaped off, at that instant Rhyhorn bolted and head-butted into the sphere, knocking the sphere further into the cliff, Velma neighed.

"I thin' that there thingy caugh' 'er foot!" Jasper yelled, Kouka hurriedly unsnapped a ball from his belt.

"Go help 'em out Cotton!" Kouka shouted, releasing a sparking ampharos.

"_Ammppphaa!"_

"**Thundarapunch**!" Kouka ordered, Cotton raised a fist, a sizzling orb sparked around it giving off a bluish, orange light and gave a battle cry as it ran at the rocking sphere, then with a lunge, its fist crushed the first few layers of steel to its soft core. Melting its insides and completely disabling the machine.

"How?" Corey managed to ask as the sphere went limp, smoke rising from its body. Cotton removed his paw and attempted to help Nero to his feet as Rhyhorn checked up on Velma along with Jasper.

"I've actually been studying these guys for the past three months, back then Ryuu informed me about them when he raided a base and spotted these new duds. He told me to go and check it out, so yeah, been busy, it's amazing I was able to get back for that little act. How is that girl anyway? Ivory right?" Kouka asked, Corey shifted his weight to one foot.

Now that he was up close, not only was Kouka broader, but he had gray almost silver eyes that didn't contain the coldness they had when facing Ivory as Sam Kingfischer. He had a mop of slightly spiky blonde hair, his muscles as large as they had been before, but with a tight, navy blue tank top complete with a black vest and green sweats and black boots, he was more intimidating than he was in a Rocket uniform.

However, those close to him knew he was as gentle as a motherly goose. A sense of parental energy to him.

"She and Ryuu hadn't talked much since of course, Ryuu's being indifferent as usual. But I can tell he's trying." Corey said with a huff. Kouka sighed.

"Really? Can't say I'm surprised, especially what happened to his sisters."

"So…anyway, did you decide to drop in to help or do have something else?" Corey asked, ready to drop the subject.

"Uh huh, Cassie has told me some news about Pallet Town. Turns out it's under arrest." Kouka said, Corey looked at him blankly.

"What part of Kanto isn't?" Corey asked.

"Well, they were threatened to be bombed if they ever found out a Pallet citizen (alias Ivory) was given a pokemon illegally." Kouka said.

"I'm shocked that they haven't destroyed the town without a reason. Didn't you hear about Cianwood?" Corey asked.

"Yeah, Chuck was a good guy." Kouka said, his tone sad.

"I see you got here in time." The two trainers jumped and whipped around, it was Ryuu.

"Hello Ryuu, I was wondering where you went off to." Corey said.

"Goo' timin' Ryuu! Now get cher' asses over 'ere and help me! That thing crushed 'Elma's foot!" Jasper shouted, his form bent over the weeping nidoqueen's foot.

"Just what I want to hear the moment I step onto a battlefield." Ryuu said.

"Be glad that's the worst we've got." Kouka replied.

"Hey, wait a minute, where's Ivory?" Corey asked, Ryuu gave him a quizzical look.

"I didn't leave her in the middle of the forest," Ryuu said, "well, not helpless that is." He smirked as he went to aid Jasper and the injured pokemon, leaving Corey and Kouka to their pondering.

"He wouldn't…do anything reckless would he?" Corey asked cautiously, Kouka gave a nervous shake of his head.

* * *

_I'm so tired of being here_

_Suppressed by all my childish fears_

The trees' leaves shuttered and whispered among each other as the last of sun's light went under the blanket of earth. The grass whistled worriedly as the breeze swam through their blades. The moon's crescent smiled softly down on the pale girl that slumbered against an aging oak, her chest rising and falling quietly.

_And if you have to leave_

_I wish that you would just leave_

Her pokemon were resting within their poke'balls, leaving Ryuu to his word. Phor sleeping soundly next to her, his heartbeat fading…

A clawed paw protecting Ivory's young form, its presence the pure sign of tragedy. Its eyes vibrated of blood, its white fur illuminated by the moon's petty smile.

"Absol…" 

It felt strange as the girl gave a light smile in her sleep, making the pokemon think of what she could be dreaming of that gave her such small reassurance in this tough time.

_'Cause your presence still lingers here_

_And it won't leave me alone_

The evening gave Ivory peace for once, with her tragic guardian at her side, foretelling her many deadly wrongs will come, and there was no way of stopping them, even at the cost of her life.

* * *

**A/N:**

_Hello! Yeah, I know it's been a while since I have updated this, but lol. I had a bit of a writer's block, now I have a good idea of how to start the next chapter, but the rest of it's kind of blurry. All well, Halloween is coming so I might have an idea. Also, the end of my first quarter's coming up so I'm going to be busy. If anyone has any ideas please give them! And don't worry, I'll be my evil self and give out for questions to the plot before I answer any of them. Okay, I need to get ready to drive. See you guys later!_

**?Question?**

Where did that steelix go?_  
_


	10. The Steelix

**Chapter Ten --- The Steelix  
**

"_Ugh…poor thing…"_

"An obvious attempt to power advanced machinery through pokemon." Kouka reported as he went through his notes, skimming them to see if he had missed anything. Ryuu and Corey had just finished coaxing the large Steel pokemon to relax as Jasper attempted to use Full Restore.

"Eh, we ain't gonna harm ya buddy," Jasper said as he evaded a massive nudge from the steelix, the pokemon eyeing them with distaste.

"They didn't succeed thankfully, we destroyed the tracking device so they won't be searching for it around here." David noted, Corey growled.

"Not true, Team Rocket recklessly places any of their weapons for testing anywhere on the required medium, they could care less what gets in their way – innocent or not. And since the tracking dot must've vanished here, we're going to get some unwelcome visitors if they decide to carry out a search party." Corey explained, David looked away, murmuring to himself.

"That doesn't clear one thing up, where are they getting the new material for these machinery, that _thing_ was loaded with stuff unknown to our database." Ryuu pointed out as he stroked the cold metal coat of the steelix. It snarled and lashed out, wincing greatly from the movement therefore its weak attack missed.

However, all of them knew a powerful blast wasn't needed to seriously harm them. Corey, Ryuu and Jasper eagerly jumped out of the pit and stared down at the hopeless case.

"We might as well put it out of its misery." Kouka stated grimly, fingering his pistol placed at his side; already loaded with bullets of death.

"No, let me try – please?" They rounded around, there stood Ivory, Ryuu's absol at her side, though Absol's expression was blank, Ivory's face was filled with determination and eyes harvesting a glint never before seen.

Since last night, where Corey carried Ivory back to the base with Absol on his heels, Ivory had been unconscious, he placed her in a room where she had never been, and by the looks of it, she had just woken up and had been running all over the place for them. Absol had finally taken the responsibility of guiding her through the maze to this underground lab.

Well, sort of like a Pokemon Center lab, with computers and monitors placed on two walls on either side of the entrance, however there was something of an observation deck with iron bars and a single door. Beyond those bars was a large pit with a hemispherical ceiling of steel. The ground was level, but large enough to give the steelix extra room as it attempted to curl up like a snake.

"Absolutely not-" Ryuu began but Kouka punched in.

"What are you doing up? Absol, I clearly ordered for her to stay in that room. Or were you with her?" Kouka asked, his fatherly tone making Ivory grimace somewhat, but she wasn't in the mood, Absol, instinctively took a step to the side, away from his watch.

"I am NOT staying in bed!" Ivory not only gave them a dirty look, but also one that said 'back off' in a lethal tone. She pounded up to Jasper and evidently grabbed the Full Restore before marching towards the door.

"This is why I can't," she growled out before going through the door, where her footsteps ultimately became softer and lighter, much to the amazement of the guys due to her earlier attitude, Absol walked up with them, to watch what she would do.

With an extra spring to her step, Ivory came to a halt before she went any closer to the dangerous breed. The steelix watched with unnerving vigilance, Ivory however, kept her face straight, the determination hadn't faded.

"Hey, you have some nasty wounds there." Ivory spoke softly, taking a step towards the head of the steelix, the group held their breath (excluding Absol). Ivory took in the steelix's long body, from what she had overheard (cough cough), the steelix was found in the sphere of the machine some of them went against yesterday.

To make a long story short, the steelix was lucky to be alive, it had been woven around a pipe inside and had been spinning so fast it began to wear down it spikes and the hard outer layer of steel. The friction (seeing as the spinning of the steelix's body provided power and from what David figured out, since steel conducts electricity, TR figured they could provide more electricity through the body of steel, so therefore this steelix was shocked unbearable times from brutal attacks of fellow pokemon of the lightning field and savage electronics) had burned out a good amount of the outer layer, but it will grow back in a number of months.

And because of this, this pokemon had defied all attempts to help it from any person or pokemon that got near it. Ivory was going to be of no exception.

"Here, you see this?" Ivory asked, lifting up the large spray bottle of Full Restore, the steelix eyed it angrily, as if expecting it to create more harm than good. "This is called a Full Restore, if you let me, I can spray this on your wounds and they'll heal faster and become stronger. Would you like that?"

* * *

"She'll be killed if she doesn't get out of there!" David warned as he clutched at the bars, peering down at the girl and pokemon. 

"What's werse, she 'as no pokemon. Look!" Jasper growled, holding up Kameko, Panther, and Aldara's balls. The others felt their jaws drop.

"That's a hostile steelix! I'll send out-"

"_ABSOL! Sol! Absol…_" Absol barked in his deep voice, the others looked at him than at the two beyond the bars. Ryuu eyed his pokemon, besides being the omen of a tragedy soon to come, he could see beyond the superstition and place great trust in his comrade.

"All right then Absol, we'll wait and see." Ryuu finally stated, looking back at Ivory and the steelix, who was slowly edging towards the giant pokemon.

_Take it slow Ivory…be careful._

* * *

"That's what we do, we're fighting against Team Rocket because of what they did to you, other pokemon…" 

_The venomoth was by far, the worst of the four. The wings had been slashed and seemed to have been eaten away at every edge. It's body brutally harmed, it was subconscious._

"To innocent men, women and children…"

_Against their wishes, people were forced into service of Team Rocket. Forced to work and die for things they were against, and earning nothing and losing everything._

"To family and friends…"

"_Yes, that's why he's no longer there. He's very powerful for a fifteen-year-old, intelligent at that. Also since he was the original rival of Ash Ketchum, Team Rocket thought he would be perfect for enhancing and wanted him on their side. Unfortunately for them he got wind of this and fled. Sadly, that's not really his style but his once arrogant self had somewhat transformed into wisdom and he thought it would be better leaving than fighting a whole crew of Rockets." Professor Oak explained._

"So please, accept me. I am not like Team Rocket. None of us here are and NEVER will be." Ivory begged quietly, the potion held in her hands tightly, memories whirling around in her head.

The steelix watched her, its gaze continued to watch her.

"I can understand that you might not still trust me, but believe me, I've felt the sting of betrayal too, by someone of my own kind." Ivory said, remembering Ryuu smacking her through their act as TR's agents, the mark wasn't there, but beneath her skin it still stung harshly. Even though it wasn't a true betrayal, it still burned her insides.

"A-And…for as long as you live," Ivory's voice was staggering, she shook her head and tried to continue as her eyes singed with tears. "I want you to experience kindness, more than you ever had, and if you died right here and right now, you might never get that. That's why there are so many people against Team Rocket, we're fighting for the good of us all, so will you l-let me help you and will you fight alongside us, to stop Team Rocket from ever doing things like they did to you to other pokemon?"

The steelix was still, the air was still, the group's lungs were demanding air and Ivory's shoulders were beginning to shake.

"P-Please let me help you, I don't w-want to see…another pokemon d-die…" Ivory's voice cracked and tears became a river down her cheeks, she went to wipe her cheeks but found something warm press against them before she could.

She jumped slightly, but swerved her eyes over to see the steelix's tip of its tail cutting into the tear trails.

_It's so warm…_but aren't steelix's made of _cold_-hard steel?

Ivory brought her free hand up to the tail and began stroking gently like she had witnessed Ryuu doing with the venemoth. The steelix closed its eyes, mesmerized by her touch.

* * *

With astonished faces, the group let loose their held breath (again, excluding Absol), David hurried over to the computer and began typing rapidly. Corey and Kouka's muscles relaxed, their grips on their poke'balls gone. Jasper gave a hearty chuckle and Ryuu watched on with his absol, his face dawned of amazement. 

_Good job…Ivory…_

The girl he first met whom was oblivious towards the truth behinds the brutal attacks on Kanto and selfish goal and first priority of become a master had shifted into a strong trainer that would serve their ultimate goal even more.

"_Sol…_" It seemed, that Absol too had doubts that Ivory wouldn't make it as he inhaled and exhaled hardly noticeable deep breaths. By this time, Ivory was safe and was now finishing off spraying the whole head of steelix, its skin drying and melding back together as steel was welded by a torch.

"You knew, all along, you knew." Ryuu spoke towards his pokemon, Absol gave him a stoic glance.

"_Absol._" (_And you didn't._) Absol said, knowing even without knowing the pokemon tongue, Ryuu had gotten the message and frowned as Ivory came through the door.

"The spray and that massive amount of wounds means we're going to have to place it one section at a time," Ivory said, speaking like an older woman in charge. Her eyes brutally boring a hole into each of their heads for some reason. Absol became quite amused as Ivory placed the Full Restore on a free spot on the paper-covered counters beside the monitors and computers.

"For now it's sleeping," Ivory continued as she traveled back and shut and locked the door, throwing the key ring that jingled because of the amount of keys to Jasper. Jasper caught it quickly then went back to looking at Ivory, wondering why she looked so deadly calm yet her voice tinted with suppressed anger.

"The doors are locked and David's looking into the machine," Ivory was hiding something and was dying to let it out, Absol alone had stood stock-still, eyes closed and smirking unbeknownst by the human males. Even David looked up from his typing. Kouka crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"Now, what's with that tude Ivory-chan?" Kouka questioned, Ivory froze, her eyes shadowed by her bangs, Corey watched her curiously, David's mind paced and eyes went from his readings back to the girl, Jasper played with the keys nervously and Ryuu raised a brow.

"_What's with my tude you ask?_" she started out dangerously low, and because this was the first time she showed any other emotion besides depression and odd happiness, she scared them into backing up several steps.

"Wha'z wrong little missy?" Jasper croaked out somewhat bravely, but when an eye split through her bangs, he held up the key ring in front of his face in meek defense.

"_Oh…I'm just kind of wondering…_" she growled, all of their ears focused on her. "_Why…_" they began to sweat.

…

…

…

She glanced up, eyes narrowed and glinting fiercely. She had adopted the look of outrage from the angered steelix a few moments ago. They gulped and Absol took another smart step back.

"_**WHY THE FRIGGIN' HELL AM I IN **_**THIS!**" Ivory roared, tugging at the large t-shirt, sporting a faded-out Pokemon league symbol. It went down to her knees and below that she found herself in only her undergarments, (which wasn't much, recall that she's only thirteen and a late bloomer apparently). Her feet and legs were bare, but her face began to burn so badly of livid red that it seems the rest of her skin color would fall to the angry hue.

"Um…well…" someone muttered, her outburst made them scatter towards different sides of the room. All of them, even Ryuu watched her with fear.

"**WHO DRESSED ME!?! THERE AREN'T ANY OTHER GIRLS HERE! SO WHO THE HELL DRESSED ME!?**" She continued to roar, as if expecting out of fear someone would drop to their knees and begin apologizing.

But instead, out of fear, everyone raised a finger and pointed. Following their direction, she saw that her privacy invader was no other than Ryuu, whom had the nerve to regain his cool composure and place his hands in his pockets, wistful to himself and oblivious of Ivory's growing hunger for his blood.

"_**Ryyyyyyyyuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…**_" She whispered, this terrified the others into running out of the room, abandoning any other works they were doing inside. Absol, Ivory and Ryuu stayed behind. Ryuu himself, somewhat unnerved and dangerously close to running himself. Was this really the Ivory they all knew? Well, they never tried to get her mad before…upset maybe, but angry? With this, none of them will ever try.

"Well, it's not like you have _anything_ anyway." Ryuu stated the arrogance Ivory saw before was flickering in Ryuu's eyes. She snarled.

"I'm _thirteen!_ You-you-you-you-" a string of curses flowed from her lips quietly so that Ryuu didn't hear them, he however did have a feeling of what she was saying and decided not to ask.

"I suppose that guy is yours then?" Ryuu changed the subject not only on purpose, but to state the obvious. Ivory glanced at him then back at the sleeping steelix.

"Eh…no, no pokemon belongs to me, nor anyone for that matter." Ivory stated, Ryuu watched her closely, a girl out on a rampage had gone very calm very suddenly. Absol took notice but didn't show it, he continued to watch the slumbering steel giant.

"But it's like catching them is like a bond beginning huh? That's why most pokemon you catch are loyal to you instantly." Ivory explained. "They're not slaves, they don't _belong_ to us just because they can go in and out of a ball."

Ryuu's eyes turned away from her, she wasn't naïve anymore he knew bitterly. She knew almost as much as he did of the harshness of the current state of their world. He didn't know why though, that her learning didn't bode with him well.

Was it because she would no longer need guidance from him as time wore on?

No, why would he care, he wanted her to learn so she could care for herself and he wouldn't have to be her bodyguard anymore.

Was that really any reason for why he felt this way though?

"You've…grown…" Ryuu said, looking back at her as she watched the steelix. Even though she still had the looks of a bedhead, her eyes were bright with a dull glint of misfortune and her hair was wild, like her personality and her mood swings.

"…" She didn't reply but turned towards him.

"Don't think you're going to get away with this." She said with a tug at the edges of lips, as if she were suppressing a smile before walking out of the room. As she walked, she passed Jasper, David, Kouka and Corey, pressed against the wall as if she would lash out at them.

"You can go back in now." She said as she stifled her giggles.

_Men, they're weird sometimes._

* * *

Two days later, after Ivory emerged from the lab where the steelix was held (now officially nicknamed Diamondpelt), Jasper made it known the steel pokemon was recovering well and fast, that brought up her mood enough for her to travel to the weight room Kouka and Corey revealed to her the day before. 

Here she saw that she was alone for once, usually Ryuu and friends were here working out, but not at this hour.

"All right, let's get some work done 'kay guys?" she asked as she released the three pokemon. Panther had grown visibly an inch since four days ago and fortunately gained weight, his growing was a good sign he wasn't letting his past torture catch up with him in the present.

Kameko and Aldara, however were as determined as their trainer to get as strong as can be. They were well past their evolving level Ivory took notice that day as she scanned Dex.

_Squirtle Lv. 26 and Spearow Lv. 24 and Eevee Lv. 18_, Kameko and Aldara hadn't evolved yet. It made the trainer wonder…

"Do pokemon choose to evolve?" she asked minutes later, Kameko gave her a baffled look and Aldara cocked her head. Panther squeaked and happily grinned, unaware of the question but certainly very bubbly.

"_Squirtle squirt, squirt squirt._" (_We can, it's difficult to defy nature though._) Kameko rolled out a few words in her tongue with a nod, meeting her trainer's gaze. Ivory watched them, this was strange, she never knew pokemon even wished to remain in their pre-evolved forms.

"Why would you not want to evolve?" she asked, crouching down to her pokemon's eye levels. Aldara and Kameko exchanged looks of uncertainty, as if they were unsure of how to respond.

"_Spearow! Spearow!_" (_We've always wanted to, but because of what's been going on we haven't had our minds into it!_) Aldara crowed Ivory watched them, was it possible to automatically cancel an evolution because they weren't into it mentally? She never heard of that, but then again, if she can understand what her pokemon were saying because of the bond they shared, it could be very plausible they hadn't evolved because of a simple situation.

"Well, now our training is going to be serious! We have to get stronger to help others not to forget Pallet Town, they're counting on us to save Kanto! Let's do it!" Ivory cried out enthusiastically.

_Turn me loose - it's now or never_

_Feel like I could run forever_

_A new day's come - a new moon's risin'_

_I take my chances on the blue horizon_

_A leap of faith - a shot of spirit_

_Freedom's callin' - I can hear it_

The pounding and scraping of weights being dragged sounded unflaggingly throughout the hours, Kameko and Aldara assisting each other and Ivory powering up the treadmill and for the first time, Panther was forced to sweat.

"50 miles an hour, not bad boy." Ivory praised as she watched the monitor, Panther sprinting with a sheer face of determination. Kameko successfully lifted sixty pounds, something almost three times her weight as she cried out delightfully. Aldara was flying around the room, avoiding people under her with very heavy weights.

"Awesome guys!"

_Hold on tight - we're gonna get there_

_It's time we're on our way_

David pushed 'ENTER', readings popped up and the female automatic voice spoke –

"**Diamondpelt - STEELIX **– **National Number: 208 – Species: Iron Snake – Female – Type: Steel/Ground – Habitat: Cave – Region: Johto – Height: 7' 38" – Weight: 931.4 lbs – Color: Gray**"

A picture of the worn-down steelix appeared beneath the readings, David grinned.

"Update now complete." He spoke as he pulled up blueprints of the spherical machine. Notes and arrows pointing as spots, a small video camera shot was taking in the right, upper-hand corner. There was Kouka hammering away and pulling up tough metal.

"How's it going Kouka?"

_It ain't over yet - you can lay your bet_

_Now nothin's in my way - you ain't seen nothin' yet_

_I have learned to fly - hold my head up high_

_Somethin' I don't want you to forget_

_It ain't over yet, it ain't over yet_

Back with Kouka where he looked up at the camera, he grinned.

"Not much that I haven't seen yet, just a bunch of wires, I look into them later." He shouted back as put a gloved hand beneath a pulled-up sheet of steel and with a burst of strength, yanked the hunk of metal away, only to stare in at an incredibly difficult computer chip.

"Well, I'll be…these things are new." He spoke as he snapped it out and pulled it up to his face, eyeing it with great heed.

"**What did you find?"** David asked, the camera attempting to zoom in. Kouka looked up.

"You might want to see this." Kouka said with slight disbelief.

_I was born to run - born to ramble_

_Any prize's a worth a gamble_

_Sometimes I get the urge to wonder_

_Cuz I'm a child of the wild blue yonder_

_Fill our hands - the sky's the limit_

_The race is on - we have to win it_

"SANDSLASH! Sandstorm!" Corey shouted, getting irritated by Ryuu's smirk.

"ATTRACT!" Ryuu demanded, his sandslash (female) blowing heart kisses to Corey's sandslash (male). The sandstorm never came into being as Corey's pokemon was oblivious to the orders that would harm his _beloved_.

"SANDSLASH!" Corey shouted, his hands ruffling his hair. "C'mon! That was cheap Ryuu!"

"You shouldn't have called him out! You know they have the hots for each other!" Ryuu laughed as his sandslash giggled. Corey sighed with aggravation, recalling his pokemon.

"Fine then! Go-"

_Hold on tight - we're gonna get there_

_It's time we're on our way_

"You're doing great, keep it up." Ivory encouraged as she attempted to lift the bar (now without Ryuu) for the fifteenth time, just for it to come back down on its metal hooks. As she sat up, she noticed there were more pokemon in the room. Pokemon she hadn't seen before.

There was a couple of machamps, a machop, a hitmonlee, a few nidokings and queens, a jolteon even, three nidorinos and a golbat.

_Wow…this is so cool!_ Ivory thought, her pokemon thinking the same thing as they rested for a moment to watch their fellow pokemon. A machamp came up to Kameko and greeted her.

"_Machamp!_" The machamp growled out with a friendly tone, Kameko smiled.

"_Squirtle!_"

_It ain't over yet - you can lay your bet_

_Now nothin's in my way - you ain't seen nothin' yet_

_I have learned to fly - hold my head up high_

_Somethin' I don't want you to forget_

_It ain't over yet_

"'Ere ya guys go," Jasper said as he poured soft pokemon food for the young nidorans, they all squealed, some tackling the old man and others gulping down food. Jasper laughed as he attempted to sit up.

"Ouch! Tha' wuz me back!" Jasper cried out with a smile twisted from wincing, the nidorans gave him a look of sympathy before squealing some more.

"Now – now! Hol' it! I'm old!" Jasper cried as more came to join in Jasper's dog pile, Phor watched with great interest, amusement dancing in his elderly orbs.

_How ya gonna know if ya got what it takes_

_Can't be a winner if ya don't run a race_

A roar blasted through Ivory's and the other pokemons' ears, but only Ivory and her pokemon grew curious. The others were obviously used to the noise.

Growing with curiosity, Ivory with her pokemon, scurried out of the weight room and walked down the hall, there another roar erupted from behind a closed door.

Ivory looked from her pokemons' worried faces to the door.

_Ya know you're gettin nothin_

_If ya come second place_

_Cuz it ain't over until it's over_

"There's nothing to worry about," Ivory tried to reassure herself as she clasped the doorknob, the pokemon bristled as she twisted it. "Here goes nothing…" she muttered as she pulled it open.

They were greeted with several elements, fire emitted massive heat and blew them down the hall, ice shards blew past and sent a chill, then pink petals blew wistfully into the hall, giving them a sweet scent.

"That was…different…" Ivory said as she got to her feet despite the attacks side-tracking out and into them.

_Aow it ain't over yet - you can lay your bet_

_Now nothin's in my way - you ain't seen nothin' yet_

_I have learned to fly - hold my head up high_

_Somethin' I don't want you to forget_

"RHYHORN! Horn Drill!" Ivory blinked before hurrying against the winds towards the door, she knew that voice.

"SANDSLASH! Hold that horn with Crush Claw!" She knew that one too, but she was highly distracted as she peered left and right past the door.

There were…pokemon everywhere! Charizards were duking it out against swamperts and gravellers against ivysaurs! Not only on the ground, but in the air and pools nearby too! Dewgongs, pidgeots, seadras, crobats, starmies, fearows, seakings and sparrows!

It was an incredible sight! They were all training!

_It ain't over yet (it ain't over yet)_

_It ain't over yet (it ain't over yet)_

_Oh nothin's in my way - you ain't seen nothin' yet_

_I have learned to fly - hold my head up high_

_Somethin' I don't want you to forget_

_It ain't over yet_

"_Spearow…_" Aldara croaked as she perched on Ivory's shoulder, amazed like her trainer. Kameko and Aldara pinned to her legs. Ivory looked past the pokemon and stared at the two trainers with fondness; it was Corey and Ryuu. Their pokemon on the last stand-off.

"SANDSTORM!" Ryuu cried, and with that, Sandslash got to her toes and spun quills out and a storm appeared from the walls and engulfed the entire gym-like area. Ivory and her pokemon leaped from the door and to their stomachs, covering their heads as the sand blew past them.

For a moment, all she could hear from sand burrowing into her hair and clothing. When she felt nothing more, she warily sat up. Aldara flapped her wings, spraying ground grain in every direction. Kameko had hidden in her shell where Panther was dragged in as well, his head poked up before strolling out, his eyes bright. Kameko peered out before completely emerging, shaking out sand from her home.

"Everyone okay?" Ivory asked, they all nodded. Then they soon hurried back to the door to see the entire gym like they were. But the pokemon were tired and had a hard time getting to their feet.

In the corner, Ryuu was brushing off sand, but jubilantly.

_No!_

_It ain't over yet_

_Ryuu's pokemon pulled THAT off…amazing…_ Ivory thought as analyzed the damage, besides the pokemons' HP down enough for them to struggle to their feet, Corey returning Rhyhorn to her ball and Sandslash panting. Everyone seemed fine, just very exhausted.

_It ain't over yet_

"This place is so cool!" Ivory cried as she bounded in with her pokemon right behind her. The other pokemon glanced at her, staring at her, she didn't feel uncomfortable though, unlike their gazes, Diamondpelt's was far worse, and she got over it quickly because of that.

"Why didn't you guys tell me there were so many different pokemon here?" Ivory shouted as she looked around, the pokemon were still staring at her, but because Ryuu and Corey didn't attack, they found the stranger harmless.

"Because we thought you would be blown away by the elements!" Ryuu shouted back with a smirk, flattery over winning wouldn't do his head any better. Ivory shook her head, what an arrogant ass.

"Oh, right, hey guys! This is Ivory Koguu, she's a new recruit!" Corey shouted.

"Recruit? For what?" Ivory asked, pointing at herself, Ryuu was chuckling and the pokemon were looking at each other, chattering in their tongues like gossiping old people.

"You don't know, that's right, this is a gym for EO's pokemon, in fact, this entire _base_ belongs to EO, so everyone in it is a member of the EO, so congratulations Ivory, you're now part of the _Earth Organization_!"

Ivory felt like beaming to no end, a _member_ of the _Earth Organization?_ She could hardly contain herself; she was now a full-fledged trainer against the ways of Team Rocket!

What took her by surprise though, was when Kameko and Aldara began to glow!

* * *

**A/N:**

**It Ain't Over Yet (c) Bryan Adams**

_Lol, Kameko and Aldara are FINALLY gonna evolve! Yay! I have an idea for Panther, the name already says it, but whatever. And in case you're wondering, Diamondpelt might just become her ticket for beating Lt. Surge! But since it'll take a couple of months for her to fully heal, Ivory might have to skip this gym. But she needs to get another badge, it's driving me up a wall too._

_Anyway, Happy 2007!_


	11. To Leave Behind

**Chapter Eleven --- To Leave behind**

The streets were empty except for the parade of Team Rocket troops marching down the cracked pavement, their pokemon, adapted to the darkness strode easily down the avenue under the dim light from bulbs overhead. Clouds covered the stars, to keep them from seeing the hideous sight.

Doors and windows were bolted shut and lights were off, it was a ghost town it seemed, except people listened with fear gripping their hearts as Team Rocket continued past their homes, the apartments pushed together, they even seemed to bundle up with each other out of terror.

The leading pokemon, a savage looking mightyena sniffed the air out of boredom, his tail twitched, his paws hitting the ground, every ounce of him demanded superior authority, and because of his success in surviving a powerful experiment, he was well respected among TR as well.

Of course, as a _thing._

A lightning bolt flash across the sky, the clouds giving out a crack of disapproval and roar of anger. Team Rocket was unwelcome, even more now as they dumped _failures_ in an empty lot before turning around and walking away, not even caring of the corpses and who sees them the next morning.

The mightyena watched disapprovingly, it was his master's doing, he didn't care what they did, and as long as he was alive he was fine.

He quickly rebounded and snapped at a young houndour from sneezing as a light drizzle came.

"_Mighty!_" The dark biter snarled, the pokemon backed away, ears drawn to her head.

Nearby Rockets snickered, what a pathetic pokemon.

The mightyena then resumed his walking, he ached for a hunt, he longed for a chase, and he _needed_ prey.

* * *

Two days after Kameko and Aldara evolved, Ivory found herself cooped up with Diamondpelt most of the morning, then in the main deck or so Dave calls it, Panther making himself comfortable on her shoulders.

"Got it?" Dave was currently teaching her some of the tech in the EO base, since she realized she was now a member, she figured she needed to expand her knowledge, and by all means, Dave didn't mind feeling smarter than someone here by all means no.

"Yeah, what does the blue one do again?" Ivory asked, smiling nervously as Dave sighed, he was going at it for two hours, she thought he should be thankful he was getting someone to listen to him for this long.

Panther yawned and stretched his paws in the comfy spot he found on Ivory's shoulders.

"Connects you to Cerulean's base, Misty's there most of the time. Just don't contact for the thrill of it, only for news purposes and stuff." Dave lectured, Ivory resisted yawning, it was boring, and she wondered how Dave could stand sitting here for hours and updating readings.

"Anymore questions?" Dave asked impatiently.

"Nah, I can do this for a bit." Right now he was making her type in something about Diamondpelt and forcing her to read over Team Rocket's past strategies they managed to figure out.

"All right, I'm going to go and check out the lab, I'll be back in an hour or so." Dave said before walking out of the room, the door sliding back into place behind his back.

Ivory sighed heavily before tapping the mouse, the several number of computer screens were all on but for one, the one in front of her. The others were security screens throughout the outside area and inside the base, Dave wanted her to keep her eye on them as well.

"_There are trip wires and sensing lasers scattered about the whole of the route, there's even a call system in the Vermilion Gym in case Lt. Surge's trying to get to us. If any of these things are even touched for a second, you'll know."_

Dave told her twenty minutes ago, now she saw how Jasper knew they were coming a while back when he popped out of the tall grass.

After typing for twenty-five minutes Panther had fallen asleep and Diamondpelt, whom was in the right, upper corner screen was deep into slumber, drooling somewhat. Ivory had a full night's rest, but the boredom almost got to Ivory too on a number of occasions.

"Hey," It was Corey, Ivory noticed as she turned her head sharply to the left where the door was, making it crack. Corey heard it and grinned, making her flush lightly.

"Heard what Dave was teaching you so I thought I would help." Corey said as he strolled in, one hand in his pocket and the other holding a vanilla folder.

Ivory eyed it suspiciously, something else to type in no doubt.

"What is it?" She asked with a raised brow, Corey placed it in her hands and frowned grimly.

"The most recent issue," he growled as Ivory flipped the folder open to the first page. Panther's light snoring vibrated off her ear, but Ivory was too transfixed to the new problem she didn't even notice his tail bounce off her face.

"**_Fifty-five maimed pokemon, believed to be done by fangs therefore carnivore pokemon_**…oh my gawd…" Ivory was in shock, Team Rocket had dumped more than fifty pokemon on a vacant lot in Saffron City, in between inhabited homes with civilians that hadn't stepped a foot outside their homes out of fear of Team Rocket's next visit.

"That isn't all, turn the page." Corey ordered, one of his hands on the back of her chair. She did so and images of individual pokemon shredded to ribbons and most missing their insides came at them.

"They were empty corpses, rotting, it's obvious that something has gotten at them, Sabrina-"

"Sabrina?" Ivory jumped, waking up Panther.

"The Saffron City Gym leader Sabrina yes. She's psychic, an excellent ally, but anyway, she said that it was _clearly the work of savage pokemon under Team Rocket's bloodthirsty rule and that was after they were killed and insides carved out_." Corey was reciting what Sabrina had said apparently.

"Why would they need pokemon innards?" Ivory questioned with disgust as she quickly turned to an image-clean page before Panther got a gist of them.

"Ah, it seems Team Rocket is getting a taste for companion pokemon meat." Corey said indifferently. Ivory blanched, Panther, now a tad bit maturer didn't break out into tears, but stared horrifically at the folder before snuggling up to Ivory's cheek.

"What are you guys going to do about it?" Ivory asked, scratching Panther's ears as she looked at the screen in front of her, browsing around with the mouse.

"Well, Sabrina put some people to work and right now they're burying them, but it's what you're gonna do that we're honestly all caring about." Corey said, but it didn't seem like Ivory heard him as she whispered something to Panther – that calmed him considerably – before placing the folder down with some shock still left in her eyes.

"Ivory? Did you hear what I said?" Corey asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, sorry no, what was it?" She replied, Corey noticed how some green had infected her skin, she was definitely sickened by the images, but he was stuck to his solution.

"We're sending you on your first mission." Corey stated.

"Oh, that's nice…" Ivory spoke as she exited out of a window. Panther had gotten the message and watched his trainer curiously, Corey sweat-dropped.

I'll let it sink in… 

A minute later, Ivory's hand froze.

"**_WHAT?!?!?!?_**"

* * *

"It seems someone's in a bit of shock." Kouka said softly as he sipped some coffee, Ryuu across from him at the little table, legs crossed and arms folded.

Both sat in their body-building outfits, tight shirts with baggy pants, both had towels draped around their shoulders and the pokemon were resting around them, however now they were looking around, possibly curious about the noise Ivory made.

"She still doesn't trust me fully," Ryuu said, Kouka knew he was thinking out loud and therefore commented –

"Ah, so that's why you weren't the one to break it to her." Kouka said, the look Ryuu sent him told him clearly that Ivory wouldn't have taken well to the announcement if told by him. Seeing as she was probably still dreading what happened at their 'fake TR tunnel scheme'.

"You need to earn that trust back Ryuu, there's no time to wonder if someone will take orders without hesitation in the midst of a crisis." Kouka stated firmly, Ryuu grunted.

"Tell that to someone who doesn't know that already." Ryuu snapped lightly, Kouka inwardly rolled his eyes, the teen was well beyond his years due to past depression, but the teen in him still made a stand every now and then.

* * *

Ivory had never been this excited before, in fact, she was so anxious she was quaking all over. Kameko, now a wartortle eyed her trainer nervously, the fearow, Aldara looked up at the ceiling indifferently and Panther was still home on Ivory's shoulders.

Corey had taken them to another new place she hadn't seen before in this base, a room built with mechanical walls, in front of her was a big TV screen, a desk beneath it with a laptop and behind her an automatic door which she had gone through fifteen minutes ago.

"_Wartortle,_" Kameko scolded softly, trying to calm Ivory down.

"I'm sorry I can't help it," fully aware by her pokemon, they had watched helplessly as she struggled with her first Team Rocket encounter, whom happened to be Ryuu, Kouka and Corey in disguise from their poke'balls. They were secretly amazed that she was bouncy for her first mission when it could easily be another set-up.

"_Fearow,_" Aldara crowed, flapping her wings restlessly, all four of them had been working hard and she was clearly in the mood for a battle. Ivory noticed how the bird was the most motivated of them all, tempted to start a fight as she had done with a pidgeot downstairs yesterday.

* * *

"_Feeearrroww!" Aldara cried as she swiftly tackled the full-evolved pokemon, the pidgeot, Windstorm glowered at the fearow before using Swift._

"_Fearow!" Aldara swerved over and barely missed but didn't care, as she dodged another batch of glowing stars before ramming into Windstorm again. _

_Pokemon around them watched with worry, battling here was forbidden unless instructed by two trainers, this gym was for training purposes anyway, only Ryuu and Corey often held battles here. Yet Aldara had intentionally caught a battle with Windstorm and intended to win it._

"_Pidggeeeyy!" Windstorm cried as she blasted a Whirlwind at Aldara, successfully knocking the younger pokemon against the wall and sliding down twenty feet to the ground._

_With little HP left, Aldara took flight again and charged at Windstorm._

"_Aldara! Return!" Before anymore fighting pursued, Ivory had ran into the room and managed to return the fearow before either parties got seriously hurt._

"_Windstorm! You know better!" Kouka cried, as he was one of the people that found out about the battle from Dave up in the main deck. Windstorm bowed his head with shame before flying off with uneasy flaps._

_That was when Kouka rounded on Ivory._

"_Young lady, I don't know what's up with your bird but you had better keep it under control from now on, no one can afford a mad pokemon that'll cause havoc." Kouka lectured, Ivory grimaced and nodded. Holding Aldara's ball tightly in her fingers as the bird thrashed about in her ball._

* * *

"Oh, you're here." It wasn't a question, but the person's voice wasn't reassuring.

Ryuu strode past her, pausing at the screen before sitting down roughly in the cushioned seat before typing quickly onto the laptop. Ivory watched uneasily, she wasn't comfortable, knowing Ryuu assigning this 'said first mission'.

As if reading her mind, Ryuu said without bothering to look up –

"This was Corey's idea and Kouka encouraged it, so don't worry, I have nothing to do with this case." Ryuu stated his face was unreadable, whether he was upset that she had doubted him or that he was just in an indifferent mood she couldn't tell.

"Oh…" Ivory couldn't think up a reply, and as the minutes passed, all that was heard was Ryuu's furious typing. Finally Ivory sighed.

"Was it planned I stand here all day or leave with something in mind?" Ivory growled out, Kameko shook her head and Aldara huffing in agreement, obviously getting stiff joints from sitting huddled in an uncomfortable fashion on the steel floor.

"I was waiting for _you_," Ryuu said with a smirk, Ivory mentally snorted.

_Jerk…_

"On missions, the party – which is you and your pokemon – is given requirements and specific equipment," Ryuu explained, tapping 'Enter' before standing up suddenly (scaring Ivory into jumping a mile) and sending a smirk in her direction, she shrugged off the strange glint in his eye.

"This, is your ear piece, it's connected to our surveillance supplies here, it's also long-distance, you could be in Johto and we could still keep contact." Ryuu explained as he pulled out something plastic and ripping it open. "This is yours, DON'T lose it, we rather not waste them. Fortunately, no one can track the user using these, so if you happen to _misplace_ it, you don't have to worry about the enemy getting a hold of it. You just have to worry about them finding out WHO you are."

Then he approached her with something very small and peach-colored.

"They're also customized for the correct skin color." Ryuu added, she gave him a puzzled look.

"How would they find out whom I am if they can't even track me?" she asked.

"Earwax."

Kameko and Aldara watched as Ryuu grabbed her ear gently, she yanked away.

"What are you-"

"I need to put it in your ear, hence an _ear piece_." Ryuu growled out.

"Your hands are _freezing_." You would think with all that typing the friction would have gotten to them by now.

"Stop complaining and give me your ear." Ryuu said, grinding his teeth in irritation, beckoning for her with his empty hand.

"Don't you mean _lend me your ear?_" Ivory asked, trying to squeeze some sort of sound of delight from the boy with a dry sense of humor.

"Yes, yes, very funny, give me it or I'll _pull_ it." As much as she wanted to try getting away from his cold fingers, she wanted to get a move-on to the mission so she allowed him to cock her head a little to the side before placing the ear piece in.

"That feels weird," Ivory said.

"It'll warm up," Ryuu said before moving back to behind the desk and putting a hand to his right ear.

"_Can you hear me?_" Ryuu's voice rang through her head, she shook her head and growled at him, he smirked again.

"_Good._" Ryuu's smirk was light, possibly the closest thing to laughter Ivory will ever get.

_Why do I even WANT him to laugh anyway?_ Ivory thought as Ryuu rummaged through his drawer again and brought out something else in plastic.

"This is something that CAN be used to track you so DON'T _EVER_ lose this for the life of you and for the sake of EO. You need to put this…um…" For the first time, Ivory saw him redden slightly, it took her a minute to sum it all up.

"Just put it somewhere where no one had better touch you." Ryuu said closing his eyes in frustration as he held out a small black clip-on chip, she stepped forward and took it.

For a minute there, it sounded as if he _was_ threatening anyone to come near her with harmful intent. She knew he cared about her, but just how much?

_This is no time to think like that Ivory, mission comes first._ Ivory did not want to lose her focus as she quickly clipped the chip inside of her shirt when Ryuu turned his back to her.

He had given her a specific type of clothing, a black turtleneck and black elastic pants that were tucked into her rubber boots. Her hair was ordered to be put back in a ponytail and hands in rubber, black gloves.

"The outfit you are wearing is electricity proof, however when hit by electricity, it stores it so when someone or something _not_ wearing proper garment will be shocked by the power, handing in close combat situations." Ryuu explained as a small section of the TV came on, revealing him and his desk the TV section that was on.

Ivory raised a brow and Aldara and Kameko watched with interest.

"This is the chip you put on, it'll monitor you and help our GPS system track you if you happen to be captured by the enemy or something." Ryuu continued, his left hand holding a remote pointing at the screen.

Ivory's mind was reeling the technology was beginning to amaze her, and the fact that she was using it and going to do something with it amazed her even more.

_This is so cool!_ She thought, eager to get started.

"And don't think this is a game Ivory," She shot out of her daydream and looked Ryuu straight in the eye, his fingers were folded in front of him, held up to his face, his eyes holding the most sincere look she had seen on him.

He was _dead_ serious.

"This _isn't_ a test." Ryuu said, Ivory's heart felt heavy with guilt, and here she was half-praying that Ryuu wasn't setting her up again.

_Would he really do that to me again?_ She couldn't help but ponder; her cheek was still stinging beneath the healed wound.

"Hiromi Wave and Jeanette Fisher will meet you there, remember: Copycat's house, address 5252 Saffron View, the password is Dolly Dolly." Ryuu said firmly, typing something else in.

Ivory had a sudden feeling that Ryuu felt like he was the top boss, feeling all high and mighty at the leading desk.

"Hiromi Wave and Jeanette Fisher?" Ivory questioned.

"You really think missions are alone jobs?" Ryuu asked, Ivory suppressed a smark-alex comeback.

_Well, I did have that idea till now._ Ivory thought with aggravation.

"Why don't you leave Panther here?" Ryuu suddenly said softly, catching her off guard.

"Wha-"

"It'll be wise, he'll be trained by one of us, but it would be better if you had him full-grown before you took him on a mission." Ryuu made a point, but they were rather attached, Ivory thought sadly as she peered over at Panther, whom sat on her shoulders. He gave her a similar look.

"Of course, you could always take him and risk him dying, he has a weaker immune system than a full-grown and hasn't fully developed yet." Ryuu stated.

Ivory began thinking along the same lines as much as she hated it, but she had to admit it, Ryuu was right. Panther already had a tragic enough puphood, she should let him grow and learn attacks first.

"All right," Ivory said, Panther's ears pricked and he let out a pitiful whine, but one pitiful enough to make Ivory's heart sink.

"Don't make this hard Panther, it won't take long." Ivory stated as she brought Panther's poke'ball up.

"No one knows," Ryuu corrected, Ivory shot him a disagreeable look that he wisely went quiet by.

"Please," Ivory whispered to Panther, he cast her another heart-tearing look before looking away, nodding sharply.

"Don't be mad," _You're still my baby…_ she thought grimly as she returned Panther to his ball and reluctantly placed it in Ryuu's outstretched hand.

Ryuu kept a sincere expression well as he 'dismissed' her, not noticing as Panther placed his forepaws on the walls of his poke'ball and cried.

* * *

Corey took it upon himself to show her to her transportation.

"You'll be taken right from this base, to Saffron, you won't even have to worry about looking over your shoulder." Corey stated as they walked down a corridor she didn't recognize. She had returned her other pokemon a minute ago so to pick up the process. Her heart throbbing for Panther, when he didn't even watch her go.

Aldara wasn't all that easy with small halls where her wings couldn't stretch.

"Ear piece - ?" Corey looked over at her, she narrowed her eyes then she jumped with a smile.

"Check." She replied, Corey rolled his eyes playfully before continuing down the list.

"Pokemon?"

"Check."

"Mind?"

"Check – hey!"

Corey snickered as she pouted; she always had her mind. _Always!_

"GPS Chip?" He eyed her and she socked him gently in the back, forgetting his 'body proportions'. Yet she shouldn't have worried, while Corey chuckled at her obvious embarrassment she was rubbing her tender knuckles.

Those things were metal! No wonder he never worried about falling apart.

"Well, here's your transport m'lady." Corey said with a wink as he open a heavy door with a bar, letting her peer inside before fully walking in.

She stared with awe; it was like a subway! Except it was all clean and it wasn't a train that ran on the tracks, but small cars. Everything was of the metal color – mostly silver with a monitoring system set up on the right side where Dave was untangling wires. Phor at his side, looking rather bored.

"_Nido_," Phor spoke up at Dave, as if giving him advise.

"Ugh, I know what I'm doing." Dave growled as he placed in a red plug.

"_Rino,_" Phor growled as he shifted to his feet and wobbled over to a flabbergasted Ivory and an amused Corey.

"Someone's never been properly introduced to a subway system huh Ivory? Have you ever ridden a train?" Corey asked as Phor poked her leg, Dave turned around after shutting a metal door over the secure wires.

"Uh…yeah, when I moved to Pallet. My dad and I had to travel to Goldenrod to Saffron then to Pallet, lots of walking." Ivory finished it off by sounding as if she were talking to herself, but Corey nor Dave seemed to mind as they made their own conversation.

"F-4 is ready to go." Dave said with a proud smirk. Phor gazed up at Ivory as she leaned down to give him a scratch between the ears, which he took happily.

"Take care of Diamondpelt and Panther while I'm gone." Ivory said with a sad smirk, Dave and Corey looked away, fully knowing that Ivory was the safest way to get within reach of the steel pokemon, seeing as she won her heart over somehow.

"Wouldn't dream otherwise," Corey said as Ivory straightened up.

"Later Phor," Ivory said to the elderly nidorino, the pokemon sat at the spot and watched on with weary wisdom, as if wishing good luck.

"If something comes up, Ryuu will send Absol all right?" Corey said as he opened a round door to Ivory, it was set on the track in front of the line. It resembled a narrow pokemon head with its windows curved; it reminded Ivory of a Lugia head, which sort of creeped her out.

"Don't forget to keep your poke'balls covered until you REALLY need to use them," Dave added as Ivory climbed in, surprised to see a very comfortable seat with dark blue cushioning where she sat down and criss-crossed seat belts across her chest and stomach.

"If you get lost, search for the gym, like RosaJoy, the Psychic pokemon there should allow you into their barrier, if not…well…" Corey trailed off.

"I'm screwed?" Ivory asked in a joking manner.

"Well, not literally speaking." Dave said with a sneer, Corey hit the back of his head.

"Pervert," Ivory said with a giggle as Dave rubbed his head.

"Just be careful all right?" Corey finished as he gave a good-bye smile and pulled Dave from the car, soon after shutting the door.

It was then that Ivory felt that horribly wrenching stomach feeling in the pit of her being. This mission promised great peril she could never imagine, fighting for those of everyone on the planet and for freedom from Team Rocket, not to mention putting herself into darkness.

Yet she felt a new wave of confidence as she looked out the window, trying hard to swallow bile as she spotted Jasper, Dave, Corey and Phor waving her off (Kouka had to leave again for one of his own missions to Lavender or something), she almost cried for some unknown reason when she saw Ryuu's silhouette leaning against the door she came in at. Panther held in his bent arms, his eyes big and teary as if saying '_Why are you leaving don't leave me_'. Ryuu's ankles crossed his face as arrogant as ever, but his eyes said something more.

_Come back alive._ His eyes seemed to speak for him, probably betraying his mind. Like a brick wall that she pummeled into, it all hit her at once as the engine revved.

She might never see these people again. And the thought made her want to cry.

_Later,_ she mouthed mostly to Ryuu as she sent them a wave as the car began moving, then with a jolt it went darting down the tube. She was engulfed in darkness for a long thirty minutes period.

The whole time, she was thinking of Ryuu and that look in his eyes, that possibility of him actually liking her for real was becoming more possible to her, and she wondered…

_I'm thirteen and hardly experienced, I'm very confused and I've never been in Saffron before…can I survive this?_


	12. Adjusting

**Chapter Twelve --- Adjusting  
**

The mightyena gave a revolting sniff, as if disgusted by the city that lay terrified by the mere sight of him. No one had left his or her home in three days; he wanted someone dumb enough to think he or she can escape their somewhat safe abode and fast enough to give him a good chase. His carnivore instincts were roaring, begging for any sort of flesh whether it be his main diet or human.

With an angry glare at the motionless apartments and a few separate houses, he stalked off, tail held high with demanding authority with his paws confirming it as they stomped at the ground.

However, the mightyena disappeared, completely unaware he was being watched.

"This will be all we need," someone spoke quietly to himself as a male figure darted out from his hiding place behind some smelly garbage cans that held rotting utensils and other supplies Team Rocket failed to recycle. The young man would have hidden anywhere else, but the threat of the mightyena's strong nose got the best of him, the stench of the garbage covered his scent successfully.

With deft hand movements, the young adult pulled out tweezers and dotted at the ground where the mightyena had stepped. Placing little hairs and whatever else he could find into a small, glass vial.

His figure was slim, but built and lanky, his hair a glossy blue with a clean sheen to it, his eyes shadowed by the black cap he wore, the bill bent. His clothing consisted of a black hoodie and black Jean that clung to his legs, his shoes of the same hue.

_Done, I wonder how Jeanette is fairing?_ The man wondered idly as he stood up straight, tightening the lid to the vial before hurrying off towards the gym.

* * *

"_Alakazam!_" Ivory jumped back to the point her rear-end met the floor before the rest of her. She had just exited the subway-like system and wandered up here where she had run into an alakazam. The pokemon eyed her warily, fingers straight and palms vibrating. Its eyes glowed blue, which in turned her eyes did the same. 

For several moments that seemed like hours passed, did their eye contact finally break.

"_Ala…kazam!_" The Psychic pokemon spoke stoically, lifting a hand that glowed blue, the aura surrounded her body and put her back into a standing position. She watched the pokemon carefully as the glowing came to a stop.

"Um…thank you?" She said nervously, the alakazam remained unresponsive before turning around and walking off.

It was then that Ivory got to look around, it was dark for the most part, dusty and unused it seemed. What she stood on felt like some smooth surface like marble, but it glittered peru back at her from the little light from the hovering bulbs overhead.

With further curiosity getting the hold of her, she carried herself over to a throne-like chair at the edge of the room, the cushion colored and the chair gathering cobwebs. What a strange place…she couldn't help but notice small carvings of ghost and psychic pokemon into the armrests. Curious place indeed…

"Ah, so you made it. That's good," A sweet, but anything but docile voice chimed. Ivory shot her head up from her investigation and sharply banged her head against something.

"HAUNTER!" The feminine voice shouted again, Ivory rubbed her head gingerly, squeezing her eyes shut to keep the tears from falling.

_Lord, I'm tired of crying!_ She mentally sobbed as she drew in a shuddering breath before exhaling. She was very grateful, she knew after she realized that the woman was busy scolding this _Haunter_ to notice the girl watching questioningly.

With the pain receding, it made Ivory's eyes clear up a bit to see the girl and the one responsible for getting her hurt.

"You know better than to bring cement blocks out from the courtyard! And no! It doesn't matter how much you want to beat the crap out of that mightyena! You'll just get pulverized!" The woman shouting was very pretty, she was tall (about 5'8") with dazzling violet hair past her hips that split from her forehead and along the edge of her aquamarine eyes. She was dressed in something very colorful, a red kimono of sorts with long pants and white sleeves along her arms. A fighting kimono perhaps?

"Now, I want you to apologize, with a hit like that she probably has a concussion!" The woman growled, now Ivory intruded.

"I'm fine," Ivory said quickly, drawing the attention of the woman and the ghastly pokemon with unattached hands.

"_Haunter!_" the pokemon cried as it soared to her and rammed gently into her chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Um…"_ I'm the one that hit MY head; I should be the one crying…_ Ivory thought grimly as she grasped the pokemon lightly.

"Sorry about that, he must have thought you were an intruder, that way you were looking about I had my doubts too." The woman said as she then extended her hand.

"I'm Jeanette Fisher, pleased to meet you." The woman said as Ivory attempted to grasp her hand, but failed in doing so as the pokemon cried harder.

"That's Haunter." Jeanette said, frowning after realizing the pokemon was making things hard for Ivory. "Don't worry about him, he'll start cracking jokes in a few, so you're Ivory Koguu right?" Ivory nodded as she felt Haunter's wails slowly ebb away.

"Hiromi should be here soon, he went to gather some stuff." Jeanette spoke, and then she peered past Ivory and smirked. "Speak of the devil,"

Ivory looked around, the back of her head still throbbing, but not enough to blind her. Who came in was a nice-looking guy with looks that'll make some girls swoon. She even caught a satisfying glint in Jeanette's eyes.

"Is that her then Jeanette?" the man said, eyeing Ivory as he stepped closer to the light, she noticed he had blue hair and eyes and wore black, what had he been doing?

"Sure is," Jeanette answered, the man frowned.

"You sure, you didn't just give your name right?" The man asked suspiciously, the woman gave a sheepish smile and the man sighed.

"You need to be more cautious Jean," the man said as he closed his eyes, suppressing his annoyance.

"I will," the man looked at her as if he fully doubted her words, but then abandoned it as he turned back to Ivory.

"Well, it's certain you're Ivory Koguu, we were given appearance details." The man said, Ivory swallowed, she was alone here and she felt so strange and _exposed_ in a place full of strangers. Haunter had fully recovered now and was hovering over her; the tearstains that should have been on her were nowhere to be found.

"Name's Hiromi Wave, you already know Jean, so introductions are covered." Hiromi stated with a kind smile.

"Thank you for covering it for me," Ivory stated dryly, she heard Jeanette laugh lightly and Hiromi gave a bigger grin.

"I like this girl," Jeanette said through her amusement.

"Just as described," Hiromi agreed, "I ran into Alakazam on the way, he had already checked her, hence why I didn't approach in a more suspecting manner. It's nice to meet you, but we're going to have to cut to the chase quickly." Jeanette turned grim and Haunter moaned.

"_Haunter!_" The pokemon groaned, Jeanette sighed angrily.

"Stop complaining, none of us had a good time in the past two years as well." Jeanette snarled, Ivory resisted laughing out loud, her _teammates_ were an interesting trio.

"_Jeanette_," Hiromi warned, her temper quickly cooled, Haunter laughing as she for once, was the one being scolded. Then with a cold glare in his direction, Haunter bounced over to Ivory, humming pleasantly.

"For the past several months, Saffron has been able to get along nicely, seeing as Team Rocket had left us alone for Vermilion and Fuschia for a bit, but they came a few days ago and dumped shredded and half-eaten pokemon on a vacant lot, no one had left their home since. The EO's been the one to bury the pokemon, but we're afraid they haven't rested in peace." Hiromi said, Ivory glanced at him.

"Meaning?" Ivory pressed.

"Meaning that their spirits are still running amuck, you know the Pokemon Tower in Lavender right? Well, since the killing sprees have started, the ghosts of the tower have become very restless and the channelers are having a difficult time calming them. Now with the new vengeful spirits, the channelers are completely forbidden from going even _inside_ of the tower." Hiromi explained, Ivory quirked a brow.

_Do ghosts even exist?_

"Ghosts exist Ivory Koguu, you just haven't seen them yet, and we hope you never do." Jeanette said, her brows furrowed and eyes focused as if she were reading Ivory's thoughts.

"Huh? Why?" Ivory asked, looking at her, only to wheel back to Hiromi as he answered-

"Because that means they haven't rested in peace, even back in the peaceful days with Ash as champion there were some ghosts and that meant uneasiness." Hiromi said.

"So…what does that have to do with the mission here?" Ivory asked bravely, unsure of what she could do with anything that concerned superstition, she didn't believe in bad luck or luck at all.

"As simple as it may sound, it won't be. I've just recently gathered mightyena DNA, as there has been one of Team Rocket's wandering around like it owns the place." Hiromi continued, twirling a glass vial with black hairs in it in his fingers.

"Oh, so you got them. Good, Sabrina will be pleased." Jeanette said, but then took it upon herself to do some explaining.

"As it turns out, this pokemon was possibly heavily experimented on and survived a deadly test, therefore even Executives are scared to boss it around, it completely patrols Saffron on its own."

"Saying that Team Rocket isn't worried at all about Saffron, they think the mightyena will be fine on its own." Hiromi finished, putting the vial back in his hoodie pocket.

"Is it that dangerous?" Ivory asked, she remembered the camerupts that chased her down, that was certainly horrifying and would have turned out ugly if Brock hadn't come along.

"Tormoil and BEING the cause of danger is the only thing this pokemon actually knows what to do. Yesterday one of the fighters from the neighbor gym had barely managed to pull the mightyena from a kid that foolishly left her house. The girl is still in medical confinement, but the fighter was scathed as well." Hiromi answered.

"Let's talk more as we walk, Sabrina's waiting for you Hiromi." Jeanette said, Hiromi gave a nod. Without a choice, Jeanette motioned for Ivory to follow them. In which she did and Haunter floating right over her.

For a few seconds, they stayed in the same area until they entered a dark hallway, where Ivory had to grope around for her bearings.

"Where are we going?" Ivory asked, somewhat scared that someone wouldn't answer her.

"To Sabrina, it'll be a few minutes, she's probably still in contact with someone." Jeanette answered.

"Contact?" Ivory questioned further, still unsure where her steps were going.

"She's a psychic, she can safely communicate with anyone within the region, sometimes through words, sometimes through images, well, you get the idea – hopefully." Jeanette said.

With that said, Ivory went quiet, with only the steps from Jeanette and Hiromi ahead of her the only things that reassured her. When they started to fade, she began to panic.

"He-" She felt something grip her hand, something cool but comforting at the same time.

It was the eyes that terrified her crapless.

"HOLY CRAP!" Ivory yelped as she nearly fell again, but the hand kept her in place, the eyes belonged to Haunter, they glowed with a colorful aura and they stared jubilantly at her, as if laughing at her clumsiness.

"Stop joking around Haunter," Jeanette scolded from ahead, the corridor filled with Haunter's eerie laughter as he dragged Ivory with him. Ivory somewhat limp.

When they came to a halt, Ivory peered around Jeanette and Hiromi to find a crack at the floor, glowing faintly of blue. Hiromi knocked lightly.

"Come in." A blank voice ordered, Hiromi opened the door and they followed him in.

Ivory was surprised to find themselves in a meeting room of sorts; a long table with plain, wooden chairs with cushions attached along side it. Sitting at the head chair with a long back to their left sat a beautiful woman possibly in her early twenties. Her hair a gracious brown that ran smoothly down her chest, skin pale and figure slim. Her eyes were wide open and glowing the blue she saw in the door crack.

"Ah, Ivory Koguu." The woman spoke, her eyes slowly losing color to reveal bright magenta-violet eyes, they took Ivory's breath away. They weren't the frozen orbs her grandfather told her of, they were a kind hue with a sense of humor, but something told her it wasn't always like that.

"Hello!" Ivory greeted warmly, Sabrina smiled in reply.

"My name is Sabrina, and for the sake of my title, I will also mention I am the gym leader of Saffron. I am pleased to meet you Ivory." Sabrina said, her face quickly shifted back into a blank slate as her gaze landed on Hiromi and Jeanette behind her. Haunter made with his disappearing act and vanished.

"Well done." Sabrina said, Hiromi gave a serious nod as he handed her the vial Ivory saw earlier. Sabrina looked at the hairs in the glass, eyes cool and calculating.

"Blaine's been having a problem, earlier yesterday morning he discovered one of his pokemon gone without much of trace. He just discovered however, a rampant charizard chained in the old mansion there. It seems to be on the same track as the mightyena." Sabrina explained, Ivory cocked an eyebrow, currently somewhat lost.

"I just sent a couple of kadabras over to the east where imports of pokemon were coming through and placed into the power plant. Sparky claimed he saw a tank with a half-formed bird inside it." Sabrina continued, Ivory suddenly recalled her meeting with Casey back in Cerulean, she hurriedly spoke up.

"It could be Zapdos!" Ivory said, Hiromi and Jeanette looked at her with wide eyes than back at Sabrina.

"Zapdos?" Jeanette questioned.

"Indeed. I've had my suspicions, it seems others share them too." Sabrina said without a sigh. "It isn't the real thing though."

"Then what could be in that tank?" Ivory asked.

"A clone," Hiromi answered grimly. Ivory looked at him as if he had gone crazy.

"Team Rocket has some of the most advanced technology, scarily enough, a lot of it focuses on cloning." Jeanette explained.

"But the question is why clone a zapdos? Why any pokemon at all? They've failed numerous times and the one that survived completely rebels against them." Hiromi wondered out loud, Ivory felt ignored as the three questioned themselves.

Ivory herself had questions running through her head like what pokemon completely went against Team Rocket? When they created it. Why were pokemon being cloned? Weren't there enough in the world?

"To them, there's never enough." Sabrina said, Ivory jumped and Jeanette gave a smile. Ivory then remembered that Sabrina was a telepathic, with that thought said Sabrina gave a light smirk.

"But why? Why a zapdos? Of all the legendary pokemon…" Sabrina trailed off as she propped her elbows up on the table and folded her hands together.

"Well, they do want to take over the world…maybe he's a key to something…" Ivory said, feeling out of place more and more.

"Bit by bit though, Giovanni has well learned you can't take the whole cake at once. The reason Kanto was first was because he knew this region's systems so much better as he was born here." Sabrina explained.

Ivory suddenly felt this mission was beyond her capability, making her feel very small. Since she was under the impression Sabrina wasn't tapping into her thoughts, she thought a little deeper. She didn't feel like one of them, at least not yet. She hadn't DONE anything, anything to gain respect from higher-ups, but to get that respect she had to succeed in missions, but with these seemingly difficult ones coming her way, she was having her doubts.

"_Ivory Koguu." _Ivory (who had closed her eyes in thought) snapped her eyes open to see herself in a dimensional void, a bright blue darkening into a blackish blue background. She was floating it seemed, Sabrina still sitting in her chair not far from her. Hands folded in her lap and eyes watching her.

"_W-Where are we?"_ Ivory stammered, a little timid of the invisible floor.

"_We're in a telekinesis realm, this is where I converse with those minds I can come in contact with."_ Sabrina spoke, Ivory gave her whole attention, Sabrina noticed and continued.

"_I know what you're thinking, voices had once zoomed through my head but now I control which one may come in. Your voice, for instance, is wondering how you will complete successions in your future. You must not be pessimistic in this time; there are times to weep and others to stand strong. I am aware of your mental and emotional problems unlike everyone else. However, I still expect great things from you Ivory Koguu."_ Things went silent after Sabrina's little speech, Ivory's mind was puzzled and her face somewhat flushed.

"_I must take leave now, but we will remain connected through our thoughts Ivory Koguu. I wish you luck."_

Then just like that, the void was slurped up by oblivion and she found herself back in the meeting room with Jeanette and Hiromi chatting quietly. She scanned the room, finding Sabrina gone.

"Welcome back," Hiromi greeted, Ivory whirled around to face them and her flush darkened.

"I was gone?" Ivory asked, feeling stupid. Jeanette laughed lightly behind her hand.

"Don't worry, we've all been through it before." Jeanette said, Ivory couldn't flush anymore, realizing that faking sanity would've been dumb.

"All?"

"The whole of EO," Hiromi answered as he led the way back out, but into a lit hallway.

"Wow…"

"Yeah, she's a busy woman." Jeanette said as they came to a door.

"This will be your room, sorry, it's a bit dusty. Sabrina offered you to have it and said it hadn't been cleaned in a while, but we're sort of short on rooms, you were expected in a day's notice." Hiromi claimed as he opened the door with a dark golden key.

When he opened it, she and Jeanette strolled inside, Hiromi at the door.

Ivory spotted a twin-sized bed with a purple quilt, two large pillows adorned with a clefairy and pikachu doll. The carpet was a peach and walls in violet wallpaper. A dresser sat in the corner and a single-door closest sat closed.

"Whoa, she really hadn't been in here for a while." Jeanette commented as she picked up a picture on the nightstand beside the bed.

"_Jean!_" Hiromi scolded as she grinned sheepishly again and put it down. Ivory eyed it and saw what looked to be a young Sabrina and possibly her mother and father above her.

_This must have been her old room._ Ivory thought, wondering more about this psychic-user.

_She's a gym leader too…does she use her powers on her opponents? What about me? Has anyone even beaten her before?_ Ivory groaned slightly, trying not to attract attention from her newly made friends.

"Bathrooms down the hall to the left, if you need anything call for Haunter, he'll send a message along – hopefully, if we need you, someone will get you. Just don't be too loud, it may break someone's concentration." Hiromi explained, possibly referring to Sabrina or Alakazam. Either way, Ivory wasn't planning on shouting at the top of her lungs anytime soon anyway.

"Wait! Where are you guys going?" Ivory asked, whirling around as Hiromi and Jeanette began walking out of the room.

"Don't worry," Jeanette said as she came to a halt and approached Ivory, looking down at her with big eyes, Hiromi had given a reassuring smile before disappearing out of the room. "We're just doing some extra work, something we would still do without you around."

Ivory watched her as the violet-haired girl raised a hand and patted Ivory on the head; she raised a brow up at Jeanette.

"Be a good girl now okay." Jeanette ordered kindly as she too followed Hiromi's example and strolled out.

"I'm not a child…" Ivory mumbled out, a frown brought creases to her face as she remembered vivid flashes of the burning venomoth. "Not anymore…"

Aldara gave a yawn in her ball and rocked it, demanding to be given freedom.


	13. No More Waiting Around

**Chapter Thirteen --- No More Waiting Around**

She could be doing something so much more worth her time at the moment, she knew that, but what to do, oh what to do…she just couldn't figure out what the hell to do all locked up inside Saffron's gym. However, she had come to a conclusion naught but an hour ago.

By passing the time, Ivory had decided to accompany Alakazam on his rounds. Hiromi and Jeanette seemed to have been out and about lately, only coming in (Ivory suspected) by night and leaving as soon as dawn breaks into the black starless night skies.

Though, choosing to even be around the Psychic pokemon proved to be a challenge. Keeping awake was Ivory's first priority for the most part, as all he did was stand in the center of where they first met, on some peru tiles, and stood, and stood, and just for a change of pace, stood some more.

Ivory were on the floor losing a staring contest in the midst of her drooping eyelids when a loud 'clap' interrupted her boring state. Ivory didn't take this (or Alakazam for that matter) quietly, she literally screeched and jumped. But the sudden movement after an hour of no motion made her fall back down and nearly crack her head on the floor. Alakazam – thoroughly shaken up – shook his head and attempted to balance himself out.

When Ivory sat up and turned around, she spotted a very familiar cement block on the now scathed floor tiles, a jolly Haunter hovering above it. The way his cheeks were puffed and skin blustering red showed the pair he was _dying_ to burst.

The eruption came not a second later.

"_Hhhhaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuunnnnnnnttttterrrr! Haunter! Haaaaaaunt!_" Haunter doubled over in outrageously obnoxious laughter; his limb-less hands holding was could have been his stomach, eyes squeezed so tight tears were pouring out. In his mid air form, he rolled around in the empty space, nowhere near relaxing.

"At least he didn't drop it on me…" Ivory thought out loud as Alakazam watched the Ghost with growing ire, his eyes glowing a pink hue. Ivory took this as a note of concern and that she should be making her escape, but she had learned a little bit ago that Psychic attacks couldn't bring harm to a Ghost type, but recently they have been able to learn Dark type techniques…

"_Alakazam!_" From the moment she woke up this morning, Ivory ducked as a Shadow Ball flew from Alakazam's and headed towards the hysterical Haunter, Ivory learned that Alakazam and Haunter had a thing with fighting. In terms of friend and fool, Haunter was the idiot casting trouble and Alakazam was just a pal trying to set him straight – and failing miserably.

The bond they shared was immensely bothersome to figure out, but Ivory managed to pluck it out of their trivial banters since breakfast. It was a rare thing to see two unique beings tie together ropes of friendship, so Ivory took this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and sat back from a safe distance and watched.

Yet now that she had no company, she brought her knees to her chin and wrapped her arms around them, then she let her imagination wander a bit.

_What were the guys doing back in Vermilion? Was Diamondpelt healing well? Were Corey and Jasper eating? Was Dave getting his work done right? Was Phor having nightmares again? What is Ryuu doing right now? How were the baby nidorans? Was Velma's foot all right? Is Ryuu sleeping enough?_

_Ryuu…_ The boy kept running through her head unintentionally, she didn't put him in there on purpose, but for some reason unbeknownst to her, he was still there anyhow.

With a silent sniff, Ivory pried into her memories and watched her dad and grandpa talking, discussing Dale's choice to moving to Kanto. The Mahogany gym leader was revolted by the idea, casting his son stubborn glances, suggesting their hometown would be better for them now and forever it will be. Why her father was so intent on coming to Kanto was beyond Ivory. She never asked, but then again if she had she was sure he wouldn't give her a straight answer anyway.

"_Haunter?_" Ivory peered up to spot Haunter lazily floating in front of her, eyes big and concerned; sincerely. Alakazam wasn't too far, eyes glowing blue now (when did they stop fighting?), Ivory suspected he was attempting to read her mind, that is what Psychics do after all.

"I'm fine, really." Ivory claimed, raising a hand and patting Haunter in the middle of his face – that was all she could reach. With that said, Haunter gave her a questioning look before giving a goofy smile.

"_Haunter!_" Haunter tossed away and faded before he came in contact with the opposing wall. Alakazam soon too, left, but by teleportation. Leaving Ivory alone in the semi-dark room.

_This is some mission…terror reeks across the country, and I am…sitting here and apparently STARING at a very blank wall, saying it's blank only because this could be the only interesting thing about THIS wall…_ Ivory had grown tiresomely bored yet again. Half-wishing Alakazam would blast a part of the building just to gain some chaos. But somewhat like his trainer, Alakazam wasn't about ready to add to the attention already focused on the city.

"_You sound bored."_

Ivory looked around wildly entirely shocked at what she heard. It sounded so much like Ryuu! So when she peered around and found no one, she bonked her head with a palm before settling back down.

_Of all the people I miss…why him the most?_ She already knew the answer; it was because he was her guide into this life. All right, he wasn't entirely kind or thrilled about it. But since they met at Mt. Moon, Ivory had grown a bond with him. A thin, string of a bond, but it was twined strongly and stretched amazing distances.

Could – no, _will_ it eventually snapped with the lengthening time? She was never told when she would see that homely base again, maybe in months? Years? She may not _live_ for years to come!

"_You okay?"_

There it was again, she was hearing voices, great…Sabrina was sure to kick her out now because she was no Psychic…Ivory brought her gloved hands to her face and rubbed her eyes. It was definitely Ryuu's voice, was she _yearning_ for him or something?

"_You forgot about the ear piece didn't you?"_

…

Ivory's skin gained a brand new shade of volcanic red, that's right…that piece of junk hooked to her ear…

_I had completely forgotten it…_ Ivory thought with numb shock, compared to Haunter's fright, anything couldn't surprise her at the moment.

"_You're probably thinking you're hearing voices huh? Thought so,"_

_I missed you too…_Ivory thought glumly, of all those minutes wasted wondering why she wanted to hear him the most were thrown into her face. It was obvious, he was just her 'trainer' and he cared didly squat for her, a _rookie_ who could not act if her life depended on it, but a daydreamer with too much time and not enough to do.

"_The piece has an installed microphone, you can speak and it'll pick it up."_

"Were you listening to me since I got here then?" Ivory asked with a huff, how dare he! She damned herself when she felt her eyes blurring, she wanted to rip her eyeballs out and squash them into the ground so they couldn't cry again.

Fortunately, her tears quieted down before they escaped and she managed to stifle a sniff and successfully she kept what little dignity she had left.

_"Every word and those said around you,"_

"Pleasant,"

_"Just think of me as your conscious,"_

"In that case I should do myself in,"

_"Not funny,"_

Was that anger of worry in his voice? No, it couldn't be.

"_You know, you talk in your sleep."_

_No…freakin' way…_ Ivory wanted to groan and tried so hard not to, as Ryuu remained silent. She had thought of him before she fell asleep last night, was it possible she was muttering his name or something in the middle of the night? Oh, the stupid inevitable...

"_It sounded cute, you were just mumbling, then something about Jigglypuff being the greatest pop idol scared me away for a bit…"_

_Oh…_ It wasn't as bad as she thought it was. That's good.

"I do have its collection doll."

"_Of course you do."_

* * *

Back in the lab, with a few screens taken in from Ivory's chip shown on the televisions. Ryuu sat below them, uneasily seated in his plush office chair since three in the morning. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't ease himself up, at least not without having second thoughts and sitting back down.

He had refused for Corey or David to take his place for a bit, he just couldn't will himself away from the security cams on Ivory. If he wandered away he would be curious, more curious than before she left about where she was, what she was doing, how she was doing. He just couldn't tear his eyes from the screens…

What she had said in her sleep at exactly three in the morning was what kept him glued to the lab.

_"Ryuu…?"_

The frozen walls around his heart, something he had built around them two years ago, gave a shuddering quake. Threatening to crack.

Was she dreaming of him?

With the sound of her turning and tossing in her sleep, it told him she was having a difficult time finding comfort in her new sheets. Ryuu mentally blamed it on the room; it belonged to the Psychic user, well, used to.

He rubbed his temples, eager to hear her voice again and bit back a snarl. He couldn't afford having wild emotions rule him, he could never act on impulse again. It might cost him another life he cared about, another life he realized he shouldn't have involved in the EO…why did he lead her from Mt. Moon? Why did he have Misty lend her shelter? Anyone else in the city would have given her a room for a while. Was it because the gym was the safest place? Was he concerned enough with the girl he just met to give her the best of security?

He leaned back, and with a stiff hand reached out for his coffee mug. A saying in bold font that read '_#1 Big Brother_' stretched around it in dazzling gold against a navy blue background. Sipping quietly, he listened intently to Ivory.

"_What am I suppose to do here Ryuu? Sit around and wait to grow wings?"_

He smiled at her sarcasm, she was bored but all novices had to wait for their chance. One isn't born with experience or patience after all.

"Just wait Ivory, you'll be needed when the times comes." _And with all my heart, I hope you succeed._ He thought grimly as he swirled the contents of his mug around gently, his eyes glaring at the mucky reflection. His own beverage seemed to taunt his aphotic past. He closed his eyes tightly, gave a heavy sigh before _her_ voice broke in.

_"You okay?"_

He hated this feeling of angst, like he could do anything but didn't have the will to do it, like something inside him belittled him, telling – _informing_ him that he couldn't do anything.

"Fine, fine, how do you like your partners?" he asked, forcing himself to sound somewhat light in the changed subject. He heard Ivory give a growl.

"_I feel totally left out, they're almost never here and the best company I can manage is a fighting pair of a local Psychic and a hazardous prankster. How's your day going?"_

This time, Ryuu couldn't help but release a fit of chuckles.

"_Wow, so you CAN laugh."_

"Just be patient." He said as his humor died down as a flash of gruesome memories shot through the space in front of his eyes. Suddenly, it seemed every one of his screens blared a distinct image of his worst mistakes.

With a strong frown he blinked them away, the memories departed from the TVs and returned to Ivory's surroundings.

"_That's what EVERYONE says."_

"And they're usually right."

* * *

For several minutes, a silent hand grasped them. Ivory kept to her same position, knees rolled up to her chest. Haunter and Alakazam were possibly sent on errands, so that meant she would be stuck here with the ear piece for a while to come.

"Do you…think trainers will ever be able to pokemon again?" Ivory questioned, on the other line, she heard a creak, possibly from the chair Ryuu was sitting on. She knew he knew what she meant. Would the world ever be free of Team Rocket's loathsome dictatorship? Ivory must not have been the only trainer to attempt to become one, others had been caught, tortured, recruited or killed by TR. Ivory knew she was _extremely_ lucky to have become a part of the EO. If not for them, she would have been murkrow food.

"_I'm sure, someday you will."_

Ryuu was speaking with the utmost care he could give, Ivory understood his knowledge had been forged from savage experience, brutal events she herself, couldn't possibly imagine.

"What happened?" Ivory asked, caution her number one priority when it came to Ryuu. The bond between them was based on three components: Caution, intellect and a growing relationship. Their affection for one another was increasing; balancing.

"…_it was a long time ago, don't worry over it."_

"You lost a pokemon while saving Corey, he told me."

"…_yeah, I did."_

"Who?"

"_A…surskit."_

"They're cute."

"_It was one of my sister's."_

"Who are they?"

"_Doesn't matter, the both of them are dead."_

Ivory's vocal cords were paralyzed; Ryuu had lost his sisters to Team Rocket's purges. In the end, only one of their pokemon remained, that explained almost everything to why Ryuu was sometimes so cold-hearted and quiet when it came to questioning his actions. He had a guilty burden, for not saving his kin.

"What…were their names? Tell me at least that."

"_Audrey and Catherine."_

"Beautiful names, you must miss them."

_"I do,"_

Another silence crept on them, this time it was one of understanding.

_"Do you have any siblings?"_

"No, but I do have a dad and a grandpa."

"_Oh, right, Pryce of Mahogany and Dale Koguu."_

Ivory was glad he didn't ask about her mother, she wasn't exactly proud of what she had become. But then again, the reason to why he hadn't asked would probably be because he already knew. He knew of her grandpa and father, what's to say he didn't know about her mother.

"_Things will fall back into place in the end Ivory, they always do if the price is right."_

Ivory didn't find that encouraging and dozed out, thinking about her newfound information.

She instantly snapped out of her daydream when a loud 'thump' hit the wall to her right, without thinking she shot to her feet and stumbled to the covered window. Peering through a parted space in the curtain, Ivory found herself looked straight into a battle.

Between Hiromi and a mightyena.

Ivory unsnapped a poke'ball from her belt beneath her black turtleneck. She wasn't letting this mission go on without her. With that thought, she ran for the door.

* * *

At the lab, Ryuu frowned.

_Go for it Ivory._


	14. Sabrina Knows

**Chapter Fourteen --- Sabrina Knows**

"Swampert! C'mon! No!" Hiromi cried as the mightyena gave a massive leap and lunged its fatal fangs for the pokemon's throat. Hiromi ran forward, stretching out his palm that clasped his pokemon's ball. Hiromi then slipped, covering his eyes, knowing full well it would be too late for his fainted partner.

However, when he did happen to hit the ground, he didn't hear the devastating crunch he thought he was bound to hear.

"_Wartortle!"_ With no hesitation, Hiromi's head shot up to find a shell facing him, bountiful, silver tails glistened in the light of the dim sun. Hiromi nearly cried when he saw Swampert's chest rise and fall, though shallow but still alive.

"Hey, get up!" He felt someone latch onto his arm and yank him to his feet, who ever the arms belonged to wasn't in the mood for small talk.

"Get inside! Swampert needs medical care NOW!" He looked over and to his surprise, didn't find Jeanette, but the one girl he had neglected to give an assignment to since she had arrived.

"Ivor-"

"Move it! Kameko! Water Gun!" Ivory gave Hiromi a mighty shove as he returned Swampert.

"I need to stay and help-"

"You will NOT! Swampert needs you! He cannot get help from YOU if you get all mangled and bloody! Now move it! Kameko! Doin' great! Withdraw!" Ivory gave one last threatening glare that made Hiromi dash for the gym before another thought came to him.

When the door shut behind him, he gave a shudder.

"That was scarier than Sabrina…"

* * *

Ivory watched with ultimate determination as the mightyena bit into Kameko's rock-hard shell, she gave a surprised yelp when the fangs nearly sliced through.

"Grab on Kameko!" Ivory ordered, her heart drumming against her ribcage as Kameko's arms shot from the shell and gripped onto the dark dog's mane. The mightyena gave a howl and a snarl, jagged ears lying flat and incisors reflecting the sun's light. Ivory held her breath, brain racing for further ideas as the dog and turtle 'danced' violently in front of her.

The mightyena was bigger than what Ivory expected, its muscles ripples beneath its shaggy pelt, eyes feral and actions savage. Several scars gouged at its hind legs and its whole body seemed to scream "agony!" Ivory was at a loss, Kameko and her were incapable of killing, even if they wanted to they couldn't. This pokemon was as untamed as wild could get.

"Give it a piercing Water Gun!" Ivory shouted, Kameko's head didn't even leave her shell as a jet of water burst from the head hole. Mightyena's head was engulfed in brutal currents, and for several minutes, it seemed the attack would never end until at last it did, and the mightyena was at a pause.

It seemed intoxicated, the way it wobbled - possibly from the lack of air – and heaved in great amounts of oxygen. Its pupils small and staring up at nothing. Kameko was still hanging on, afraid if she let go she would be carved open and become a free meal.

But alas, the battle was not done yet.

Ivory's face grew terrified as the mightyena's blood-thirsty eyes landed on her, to her it felt like a madman's gaze, as if telling her she was 'next'.

"_Don't panic! Don-"_

"You're too late!" Ivory yelled as the mightyena launched for her, Kameko crying out for her trainer as she flailed back and forth on the dog's throat fur. Drenched and furious, the dark dog pounded against the earth, claws flinging up dry dirt and saliva dribbling from its black lips.

Ivory turned and sprinted down the street, the mightyena right on her heels – almost literally.

Then with a sudden drop, Ivory fell flat to the ground and the mightyena leaped over her, the shadow cascading over Ivory's paling form like the Grim Reaper's cloak. Ivory quickly scrambled to her feet and darted back the way they came, the mightyena, baffled for a mere moment then took off after her again, completely oblivious to the fainted Kameko it had left behind.

"_W-wartortle…"_

"Go! Aldara! Drill Peck!" Aldara came out with a bright flash, her excited cries echoed throughout the city as she came down on the dark dog. The mightyena gave a massive snarl, lips pulled back all the way, exposing longer, pearly barbs along its skilled jaws.

Within a matter of seconds, soon after Ivory gave out a shout to Kameko – just then realizing she had fainted several yards away – there was a fury of feathers and black fur. Aldara and the mightyena appeared to be fighting a match of death, and Ivory's voice was out of reach to the bird of prey.

"Aldara! Aldara! Don't _kill_ it!" But it seemed her attempts were futile, Aldara was brutally launching stab after stab at the quick mad dog. For one horrifying moment a stomach-retching realization dawned on Ivory…

Aldara was _disobeying!_

Ivory recalled when the fearless fearow began a battle in the middle of the 'Training Room' back at the EO base. Windstorm the pidgeot was on a higher level naturally because of its longer time spent under EO's training programs. But Aldara searched for a fight; a challenge and found one in Windstorm.

Why Aldara wasn't listening to her trainer's orders was a clear sign of inexperience on the trainer's behalf, therefore, Ivory couldn't see anyone to blame for it but herself.

But then again, Ivory stood her ground, staring furiously at the battling duo. This was _her_ pokemon, if something happened to Aldara, if effected the ENTIRE team and Ivory wasn't planning on figuring out just what EO did to unruly pokemon. This was a war raging and there was no time for trials.

Right now, Kanto was a blazing battleground; it was a kill or be killed world. Ivory was still learning, she knew that with all her heart, so what was stopping her from helping her new home?

Nothing and she wasn't going to let ANYTHING or ANYONE change that!

"Panther," Ivory unsnapped the eevee's ball and Panther, now almost full grown looked up to her with ready eyes. Ivory quickly reached into her bag – the black one from Cerulean she had kept and prepared that morning – and pulled out a powerfully twined rope, quickly unrolling it, she tossed an end to the pup. Panther caught it with ease.

_The mightyena's too strong…I'm guessing level forty something…Aldara won't last much longer if this keeps up…_ "Keep it up Aldara!" Whether the bird cared enough to hear her or just couldn't over the snaps of the mightyena's teeth on thin air Ivory didn't wait around to find out.

"Stay here," Ivory ordered to Panther, before he could give a nod she raced away from the pokemon, looping the long rope around a nearby lightpole, then she ran towards Kameko.

"C'mon girl, this should help…" With a gentle spray of Revive, Kameko's eyes opened, no longer dizzy or blurry. Kameko got to her feet rapidly and went to join the fight, but Ivory snagged one of her tails.

"No, let Aldara handle it. We've got work to do," Ivory again told the pokemon to stay as she ran to another lightpole. When she reached Panther again, around Aldara and the mightyena was the rope in a square, corners at every lightpole.

Ivory knotted the two slacks of rope together, forming a large ball of tangled rope. Panther gave her a strange look and she sent a goofy grin back in return.

"It's the Tangela Knot, for novices." Ivory said, Panther's ears twitched with slight amusement. Ivory then looked up and spotted Kameko already hooked to the rope, the metal grasps on each side of her shell. She made eye contact with Ivory, and with a sour nod, Ivory shouted an order.

"Round 'em up Kameko!" Ivory shouted again the bird and dog were going at it, totally oblivious to their surroundings. But Aldara was showing intimate signs of fatigue and the mightyena was barking pompously.

With the verbal signal, Kameko slid into her shell and it lifted up horizontally. With no help from an outside source, the shell began to spin, not fast and thoroughly struggled. Ivory clenched her fists.

"Start pushing the poles!" Ivory demanded as she ran for one, Panther right on her heels. Her plan was simple, if not the only one she could have at the moment. Somehow manage to uproot the poles and slam them together in the middle, officially caging the wild mightyena. But the muscle to do so…didn't seem available.

_What else can we do! What else can we DO?!_ Ivory's mind was too busy, in fact, it was racing so fast her eyes didn't catch the glow emitting from the metal. A _blue_ light.

"_Eev!"_ Panther squeaked, tugging at Ivory's pant-leg. Ivory looked up and spotted the mysterious glitter, and with wide eyes, she backed up.

"_It would be wise, to walk further back Ivory Koguu."_ Ivory immediately recognized Sabrina and scooped up Panther with rapid succession and hurrying away, unclasping Aldara's ball before pivoting on her right foot to look back, arm raised and ready.

All four poles were moving, their tracks deep and scarring. Kameko was rotating quicker and quicker, the rope wrapped around her hard shell increasing every moment.

"_When I say now, return your pokemon to its ball."_

The poles were picking up pace and bending further towards their victims, their shadows catching the mightyena's attention and an angry howl alerted everyone around it that it figured out the plan. Aldara, however, was not having the mightyena escape despite her tiresome frame. She rushed at the mightyena as it tried to leap out from a gap between two advancing poles.

"_Now!"_

"Return!" The poke'ball sent a red ray between the poles and connected to Aldara's body. With a surprised squawk, Aldara was pulled into the crimson light and sucked out from the moving prison. Then within seconds, Kameko gave a last jerk of the ropes before the top of the poles reached the ground; all four curved over and created a double-barred cell.

With satisfaction, Ivory felt pride swell up inside her, but her grin soon disappeared when Aldara cracked her ball open and lunged for the cell, pecking at it like it was the mightyena. The dog beneath was tackling the walls, desperate for freedom.

Ivory flicked open a pocketknife she held in her Jean pocket before hurrying over to Kameko and slicing her ropes. With frayed ends from the blade, the ropes soon gave way and freed a slightly green wartortle. But Kameko, happy nonetheless at the job well done, collapsed in Ivory's waiting arms.

"Wait till you're a blastoise, then I bet you could pull down cement pillars!" Ivory said with a laugh, her chest bubbling.

"_War…"_ Ivory laughed as she stood up and with a hand she returned Kameko to her ball where she finally went to sleep. Panther scurried up to Ivory, followed by Jeanette (looking hazardously close to exploding), Ivory also noticed Alakazam standing near the gym door, both spoons bent and curved like the lightpoles. Sabrina was no where in sight.

"Ivory! What happened? Hiromi phoned me and told me you were battling the mightyena! Do you have any idea how much damage that could've happened! If it weren't for Alakazam your fearow would've _died-_"

"That was a risk she was willing to take," Ivory said, her face blank but not even Jeanette's pathetic worrying was going to bring her excitement down. She was proud of herself, why couldn't others feel the same about her? Was it so wrong to tell Hiromi off to care for his own pokemon? She did have the situation under _some_ control…

"You can't even control it! What kind of trainer are you? Oops." Jeanette spoke too much, and Ivory felt something boil in her, something powerfully emotional, and it wasn't tears or the urge to pound the ground.

Ivory gained a new expression, one that stunned Jeanette.

"One very _different_ than you, obviously." Ivory hissed, she loathed everyone now. If it weren't for her and her pokemon, the mightyena would have hurt Hiromi, where was the thanks? Where the _hell_ was the appreciation? Somewhere in outer space because it wasn't here on earth where she was trying her damned hardest to improve and no one seemed to be satisfied with what she could do.

As a trainer at least.

Even Panther, who sat at her feet had his fur on end, even he, as young as he was, knew his trainer wasn't being regarded for her actions like she should be and looked up at Jeanette somewhat angrily.

"I'm sorry Ivory-"

_CLUNK!_

Both girls, Alakazam and Panther shot looks at the prison, the mightyena was howling and snapping its jaws, and there on top of the hemisphere, was a large concrete block that had a sense of familiarity to Ivory.

Haunter was rolling around in the air several feet above it, whistling contentedly.

Yet as Ivory peered around, looking for something that would perhaps cool her jets, she found something. She observed several civilians looking through curtains, planks nailed to the inside of the homes and cracks through attic windows. They all seemed a little jollier with their murderous attacker behind bars, but none of them had the courage to leave their homes just yet.

Mightyena was a just a minion, they were sure to be holding a festival when the big boys were brought down.

With a spark of fiery spirit, Ivory gave a weak wave. Many flew away from their windows, some waved back and few did nothing at all but stare with disbelief. Ivory thought she saw a young girl, very badly wounded as she was heavily bandaged vanish behind a dully-colored curtain.

With a new weight settling on her left shoulder, Ivory knew it was just Panther, who gave her a swift lick at the cheek. She smiled at the petite pokemon.

"I'm fine," she whispered, too low for Jeanette to hear.

Aldara, as stubborn as she was hovered over the cage for a mere second before perching herself on it. Glaring vividly at anyone who thought they could approach her, especially Ivory.

"You need a badge or two," Jeanette mentioned, Ivory, not feeling like talking to the violette gave a nod in agreement. Of course she needed _badges_ so her pokemon would _obey_ her. So what did the rest of the world need before cheering her on? _League trophies_ and Giovanni's head on a silver platter?

* * *

"_That took too much time up Iv,"_

"Hello to you too Corey."

Ivory was still brimming with simmering anger from Jeanette's tactless exclamation. As immature as she was being now, she knew she could always be more childish and thought people better accept the fact of how she was just now. She was only thirteen and living in this kind of world that forces you to grow up too fast hurts and it seemed she was the only one feeling like that.

"_You need to think up quicker AND successful strategies, if it hadn't been for Aldara-"_

"What can I do?"

"_What?"_

"How do I get Aldara to obey me again?"

"_The more the badges the better, or it WAS that way. Nowadays…well, you're the first new trainer that has gotten about without getting caught. You can't exactly battle every gym leader in the region either…"_

"I thought all the stuff I _had_ gone through seemed to be experience enough!" Ivory claimed with shifty ire.

"_Yes, it is weird…you've had more experience than the average rookie, I'll agree. But Aldara is new too, but not to the world of battling. Maybe it's because she's what she is. Maybe she doesn't take to being ordered around…maybe some bonding will do?"_

"You know…that's a good idea." Ivory thought out loud as she walked into her room and sat down on her new bed. Panther dropped down to a spot on the comforter beside her. She absently began stroking his head as she sat in thought.

"_You make it sound like I never do,"_

"I never said you did,"

"…_you're evil."_

Ivory giggled, but it then bubbled into full-fledged laughter. On the other end, Corey shook his head with a grin. Panther (who she had just stopped petting) watched his trainer with admiration.

* * *

"_Such a strange girl…I find it difficult to read her moods."_

"_Ala-ka! Kazam?"_

"_Ah, but she doesn't believe in fate. Neither does the other one."_

"_Kazam…"_

"_I admire her, but it is best I let things go…their own way."_

"_Ala."_

"_I did the same thing for Ash yes,"_

"_Alakazam…?"_

"_You and I both know not even our Psychic powers can influence such drastic changes."_

"_Alaka,"_

"_You're attached aren't you?"_

"_Zam."_

"_Very well, we will not tell anyone however…of what we know."_

"_Alakazam."_

* * *

Ivory sat with Aldara's ball in her hand, staring hard as if she were concentrating on something. Arguing with some unseen figure it seemed, the earpiece had been silent, no one had dealt with communicating and her pokemon were sound asleep. Even the argumentative, hot-tempered bird of prey lying in her ball.

_You know don't you? _Ivory thought, her mind racing with activity. Her blue eyes narrowing on the fearow resting on some invisible nest. _That's why you don't trust me…you don't know which ONE to trust…but how?_

Aldara's eyes opened slightly, pupils trained on hers. For what seemed like hours, they sat like that, the moon outside pushing streams of lunar light through the unguarded glass. Every so often something solid like a leaf would glide into Alakazam's psychic barrier, creating a sort of 'wave' to emit from the contact. Warding off the object.

"_Feaaarow,"_ Aldara snarled before closing her eyes and falling back into slumber.

Ivory remained unmoved. Her gray hair hardly touching her shoulders. Azure eyes glistening without light.

_Dad…I'm losing it._

* * *

**A/N:**

_I've been hinting since the last chap but you guys don't have to guess...so, what do you think is wrong with Ivory? Hm? Well, I'm not telling ha! I have A LOT in store for Ivory as well as a few characters, a few time skips, a few love interests...possibly some fluff, tragedy (in which you guys will hate me for), yadda yadda yadda. Yeah, I know I made Jeannette a bit of a witch with a b but she seemed stuck-up to me since the first pokemon saga. But that could just be me._

_Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! And please RR! Only authors on Fanfiction know what a joy it is to get some good reviews everynoe and then!_

_Till next time! Hasta luego!__  
_


	15. On her Own

**Chapter Fifteen --- On her own**

Whatever trees there were in the area and within sight of the Psychic gym were now officially bare. Autumn crept up on the region of Kanto and before the war, it was Ivory's favorite season. Now, she dreaded it, because what came after fall was winter. Winter was when lives died…Ivory's stomach twisted wherever the wretched thought came up.

However, although the earth was crisp and the air tense, Ivory and her pokemon continued to improve. She hadn't been in contact with many, including her 'partners' – Hiromi and Jeanette, even Sabrina (which wasn't surprising in the first place) was scarce. But fights between Alakazam and Haunter were often, well, whenever they happened to cross paths when Ivory had the chance of walking into them as well.

"_Ivory, we have…bad news."_ It was Corey again; it was on a chilling morning with the moon still in the sky and the sky lighting up slower than ever.

Corey had woken her up instead of her alarm clock, and with the following news was a silence-shattering moment.

"What do you mean _bombed?!_" Panther, who had grown to full size now had fallen off the bed and Kameko had shot out of her shell. Aldara flapped her wings and crowed like mad. Ivory was in a frenzy, as she had flung herself out of bed and was gathering everything she could reach that possibly could have been hers.

"_Please calm down Ivory, Kouka and Ryuu are already over there-"_

"Sitting and waiting on their asses to do something behind a bush, probably _planning_ while my hometown lies in ruins!" Ivory cried out through bottled up anger. Her eyes were too focused on the chaos to weep, her cheeks flushed and body stiff but hurried.

Ivory's mind (already emotionally torn) was in mayhem, Pallet Town had been 'lightly' bombed at four in the morning the previous day and not only had it been caused out of boredom by _you already know_, but no one had the nerve to tell her!

Her feelings rolling and smacking into each other didn't help and her heart was screaming and grieving. She was really tired of it, freaking tired of being ignored like a naïve three-year-old who had never outran camerupts, jumped off of Mt. Moon, slapped around by an older 'friend', confronted a hostile steelix and the list just went on and on.

Point is, Ivory was seriously considering taking things into her own hands.

"_God damnit Ivory! Listen to me! If you go running onto the scene-"_

"I'll be doing a _hell_ lot more than the whole EO together!" Ivory interrupted as she zipped up a messily packed suitcase and reached for the doorknob.

"…_exactly what I had done."_

Ivory's hand froze; her breath lost and eyes wide. A moment later, her eyelids drooped and she straightened her spine. Panther, who had been sitting on his hutches on her unmade bed, watched his trainer meticulously as if she were about to dart into a volcano. Kameko was on the floor, now standing and watching worriedly. Aldara put herself back into her ball; indifferent.

"_This is why you aren't 'significant' yet, you're TOO naïve! You don't think before you leap, you ALWAYS assume what is right and that you should do it because everyone else just happens to be wrong!"_

"Oh? And what about you? You tell me this and you never even listened to your OWN advice!" Ivory snapped, it was early in the morning and she wasn't taking anything well. Especially with the stress she was and still is under.

"_I learned from my mistakes! And unfortunately I have to bare them for the rest of my friggin' life! You have to do it too or you'll NEVER learn! You're just a little girl to this world Ivory!"_

That stung, that hurt her. And it all the more infuriated her to the point Corey was beginning to rethink his choice of words.

"_Just relax Iv, maybe they'll find survivors. I bet they might have found out about the bomb and evacuated to somewhere safe I'm sure! All of them. Stay hopeful."_

_Their bombs are random Corey; I'm __**not**__ naïve. There's no way, no…maybe… _"Nightsayer," Ivory murmured, Panther's ears twitched and Kameko's head cocked to the side before her face brightened.

"_Wartortle!"_ Kameko cried, Ivory turned to her turtle pokemon.

"Yeah, you remember him doncha?" Kameko nodded.

"_Nightsayer?"_ Corey questioned.

"My dad's xatu, maybe, just _maybe_ he predicted the bomb."

"_That's a rather slim chance, I thought their predictions were based off of Nature."_

"It's a hope…it's a hope," Ivory replied.

"_Your hope, hold onto it."_ Corey said, _"I'll tell you anything Ryuu, Kouka and the others find. I promise. Out."_

So, days after that, Ivory sat, slept, ate and trained. Everyday was a routine she soon got very bored of and came to a conclusion.

_This is ridiculous…I'm being thoroughly ignored!_ And indeed she was, there was no sight of Hiromi, Jeanette, Alakazam, Sabrina or Haunter. She hadn't seen them in the past three days; she had but wandered around like a lost apparition, hoping to come across one of them, no matter how unpleasant she felt towards them.

As immature as it sounded, she still hadn't forgiven Jeanette. A part of her wouldn't – not ever.

"_Warotortle…?"_ Kameko looked up at her trainer worriedly as Ivory slowly placed one thing after another in her bag. Panther sat on his hutches; eyes shifting from concern to sadness to confusion over and over again. Aldara was tucked comfortably in her ball; not caring what her trainer was doing.

"I'm sure," Ivory answered automatically, "Sure as hell,"

"_Wartortle?"_

"Are you not at all tired of just sitting around here?"

"War…" 

"I thought so…sorry…" Ivory apologized for snapping at her pokemon, Kameko accepted it quietly. Ivory zipped up the bag, but then froze when a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Be careful…okay?" The voice was masculine; Ivory instantly recognized Hiromi's voice. She turned around fast and found herself face to face with him.

"W-What-where did you come from?" Ivory growled, Hiromi smiled with understanding.

"I thought it better to thank you now, before you left. Swampert is very grateful," Hiromi said, Ivory's face revealed confusion and he chuckled lightly. "Even Nurse Joy said if she hadn't been able to treat him there and then he would've died. It was your judgment that saved him Ivory,"

"Oh…" Ivory was forced to resort to speechlessness, all rebelling ire slowly ebbing away. Yet her determination to leave was still there, but she couldn't help but admire Hiromi.

"Don't let whatever people say get to you Ivory, you have potential. I wish you luck on your journey," Hiromi finished.

Ivory wasn't sure how to react to this, here the one person to catch her trying to escape was allowing her to leave on her own will, something she certainly hadn't been expecting. So instead, the slight frost covering her heart thawed and she lunged at Hiromi, pulling him into a bear hug.

"Some don't show it, but you're the world to them." Hiromi whispered into her ear after hugging her back, then letting go. "I'll distract Jeanette, you just worry about Alakazam's barrier."

"Bye," Ivory said as he turned towards the door.

"No, Ivory, see you_ later._" Hiromi corrected as he looked back at her one more time before exiting the room. Kameko smiled after him and Panther completed a neat flip out of joy.

"Eevee!" 

"Well, guys, let's go." Ivory said, sending them a reassuring smile before returning them to their balls and snapping them onto her belt, then pulling her sweatshirt over them. Swinging her bag over her shoulder and placing the strap across her chest, then finishing with a black cap she pushed open the window.

A faint breeze crawled in, gracefully dancing with the lilac curtains…without knowing why, Ivory turned around to look at the room. It was so enchanting…_a small girl with dark purple hair sat on the bed with a see-through frame, she sat without moving, her eyes glowing and immobile…_

Blinking rapidly, the girl was gone and Ivory turned back to the window and jumped out.

As she tip-toed under windows, she didn't spot Sabrina sitting at one of them, eyes seeming to look through the wall as they followed what was her body on the other side.

* * *

"Phew, I think that was harder than our endeavor in Mt. Moon," Ivory claimed as she collapsed next to a tree a half a mile away from Saffron's security post. She had successfully crept out of the Saffron gym, through Saffron city and by chance, blended in with a Rocket Grunt troop heading out of the city. When they all left the post, she separated herself from them and managed to get away undetected.

Now she gave herself a pat on the back, she had done fine work without instruction.

"Ha, find a way to criticize me now Ryuu…" Ivory said with a goofy grin.

"_Haunter-r-r-r!"_

Ivory jumped a mile from her spot and landed on her face as a spiked ball of purple rolled around in the air, laughing hysterically. Ivory snarled into the long grass.

"Haunter!" she cried as she jerked up on all fours and glared back at the poison ghost pokemon. Haunter paused for a moment, looking at her, then resumed his obnoxious laughing.

"Haunter! _Shut up!_" Ivory almost had to resort to begging to keep the pokemon from announcing her location to the TR world. When Haunter eventually did go quiet, he stared at her seriously.

"_Haunt,"_

"Sabrina sent you didn't she?" Ivory asked somewhat sadly. Haunter nodded. "She wants me to come back huh?" With that said, Haunter shook his head.

"_Haunter haunt,"_

"I have no idea what you said, but Sabrina knowing and not trying to stop me is saying something…"

"_Haunter!"_

"She wants me to do this, doesn't she?" Haunter shrugged before producing a small object in his limb-less hand. It was her poke'gear…or _Marina Dani's_ poke'gear.

"I was wondering where that went, thanks." Ivory took it from Haunter and put the chain around her neck.

"_Haunter!"_

He pointed at it, and without thinking much of it, Ivory clicked it on and peered at the screen.

**Go to Celadon. Look for Erika. Keep Haunter. He may prove more useful to you than me.**

**Sabrina**

At first, Ivory couldn't help but think Sabrina gave her the trickster to relieve the gym of unnecessary noise. _But then again..._

Ivory clicked on the map button. She frowned.

_Still fuzzy…stupid glitch!_ Whoever this Marina Dani person was, she certainly had a good mind to when closing off all links to her.

"_Haunter," _Ivory nodded, but nearly dropped the gear when it started ringing. Fumbling with the piece of hardware, Ivory eventually got it working.

"Hello?" she greeted cautiously, but then she read the caller ID (she was amazed it had one) and a smile grew on her face.

"_Oh Ivory-chan! You're still alive! Are you well?_" Good ol' Richard…the old man's heart was pure gold that would never wear despite age.

"Fit and healthy." She answered, controlling her volume. Next to her father, grandfather and Prof. Oak, Richard was a fantastic role model and she then, discovered a new goal that she didn't think was possible before.

_Eliminate ALL of Team Rocket._

If she didn't, Richard would never see his precious ratatta he sent to his sister's in Goldenrod before the raids again. Before, Ivory brewed up the idea of earning a place in EO. Yet now that she thought about things outside of the EO and their activities, her mind was clear and able to wander endless possibilities.

Now she understood why she grew easily agitated, she was a _prisoner; an indentured servant_ working tirelessly to improve in front of superior eyes. However, now, she was beginning to change courses. No longer would she be taking orders and following EO's plot, she would travel alone and learn alone. Learn things the hard way and trust only herself, her pokemon and her belief, not only in herself but also the hope that all Pallet Town citizens were safe.

That's all a trainer needed. Him or herself and their pokemon, familial support was a bonus. Otherwise, goals were their priority and sacrifices had to be made. If people didn't make them now, who would? Without loss, there would be no room for gains. That was the harsh rule she had been learning ever since she and her father moved to Kanto.

"_Did you hear about Pallet Town?"_ Richard asked, his voice laced with concern. Ivory blinked away the burning pressure on her corneas, feeling the burden of change settle on her shoulders.

"Yes," Her training started then, she wouldn't say anything that could be picked up from highly sensitive hearing devices nearby, give away information that could be tapped into, she had to learn to think things through and…Ivory's thoughts paused. Her free hand coming to her ear where the flesh-colored earpiece sat.

"_I'm terribly sorry for your loss! If you decide to come and have a look – do be careful though – you are welcome to stay with me lass. Is there anything I can do for you?"_

Ivory's smile turned sad as she plucked the earpeice out and dropped it on the ground.

"No, I'm fine." She replied simply, trying to keep whatever little emotion she could for her older friend.

"_Are you sure? Well, okay, but even though I'm not your father, I want you to know that I'm sure he would be proud of you and I am too. You're such a strong girl, don't quit lass. The whole of Kanto counts on you."_

She took out the other clip hidden inside her shirt, she was sure if anyone saw her doing this they would have thought something very _dirty…_anyway, she dropped it on the ground along with the earpiece. A moment later when she was sure she had everything out and at her mercy on the dirt her focus went back to the poke'gear.

"Thank you Richard, but I gotta go." She said, the emotion of raw sorrow real.

"_I guess I can't bother you anymore. I mean – I knew I wasn't supposed ta before, but I dunno…I had the feeling to do it a moment ago…_" Richard explained. It seemed to them both things were breaking off for a bit. To Ivory, that's all she could hope for. Alone time without a training schedule already figured out for her, she had to discover things out by herself.

"_Oh wha' am I blubberin' about, you'll come back, you'll come back…"_

"Later Richard," She finally brought the conversation to an end.

"_Later Ivory-chan, good luck." _He greeted somewhat tearfully as the line went dead. Snapping the poke'gear shut and putting it under her shirt she then stared down at the pieces of technology. Something inside her stirred and snarled; _disgusted_ by how such things somehow tuned her out of her path. Then the other was depressed, solemn over the tiny things that connected her to Ryuu…the one who had given them to her in hopes of securing her wherever she went without him.

Silently, she let out a mischievous smirk as she peered down at Eevee's ball.

"_Don't be mad," _You're still my baby…_ she thought grimly as she returned Panther to his ball and reluctantly placed it in Ryuu's outstretched hand._

_Ryuu kept a sincere expression well as he 'dismissed' her, not noticing as Panther placed his forepaws on the walls of his poke'ball and cried._

_Ryuu, you probably hate me anyway…_ Ivory thought back to how she snagged Panther back, actually, she didn't really _snag_ him back. Now that she was thinking about it, the baby eevee Panther found one day in the EO base's nursery was ready to take on the job in impersonating Panther. It was a funny moment to Ivory, seeing Ryuu fall so easily in her trick, not only that, her acting was superb!

"Someday, I'll be worthy in your eyes." She muttered quietly.

Five minutes later, she was walking away; several clattered pieces of the original products lay in absolute ruins in the grass besides the dirt they were crushed on. All surveillance connecting her to the EO base was gone.

_This is my journey now, how it turns out is up to me – no one else._

* * *

Ryuu put his face in his hands, he was trying hard to restrain himself as above him, all screens were black and the room completely silent.

With a heavy sigh, he folded his hands together below his chin and had them hold his face up. His dim eyes staring at nothing. At his elbows were papers and vanilla folders he had David look up of Ivory and most of the Pallet Town original citizens. So far, he had made progress.

* * *

A/N:

_I'll have to admit now I'm getting excited! Now we're getting onto the ADVENTURES, dodge TR, avoid being captured by EO and brought back in, capture and train pokemon as normally as possible, meet with new trainers and older favorites! I can't wait! LOL_


	16. When the Children Cry

**Chapter Sixteen --- When the Children Cry**

"Did you let Ivory leave?"

_Silence._

"Yes,"

"I cannot believe that! You simply let the girl go!" Jeanette snarled at the Psychic user, Sabrina didn't flinch nor blink as she met Jeanette's fiery gaze. Hiromi was no where to be seen and Alakazam was busy nearby adjusting the barrier around the gym.

"Yes," Sabrina answered evenly, despite the attitude being thrown at her. Jeanette was fuming, since Ivory disappeared a couple of days ago, Jeanette had been (unsurprisingly) left in the dark. Funny enough, her own crush, Hiromi hadn't told her and Sabrina, being the _social bunny_ she was, spoke nothing of Ivory let alone her escape.

Jeanette huffed childishly.

"Well, if she had your approval to leave I guess she might be somewhat safe…"

"It was not my choice to make…her leaving Saffron City." Sabrina spoke monotone.

"What!? She left the city?" Jeanette cried. "The poor thing won't last – _freely!_"

"Calm down Jean," Hiromi said, walking into the room. "There's no need to get worked up, Ivory just got tired of waiting around. So instead of waiting for _something_ to come her way, she thought better of it and is currently making her way to_ it_."

"_Better of it_?" Jeanette repeated. "She's only twelve and hardly a match-"

"Have hope." Sabrina spoke, then a rare smile stretched upon her lovely features. "She's a special one."

Jeanette sighed like a worried hen and Hiromi grinned.

_I knew it._ He thought.

"_Me too." _Sabrina replied and he jumped, Jeanette stared at him strangely and Sabrina suppressed her laughter.

* * *

Ryuu had left the surveillance room a day and a half ago, the evening following the blank screens he stayed up and waited. Hoping, _praying_ that the technology was simply malfunctioning and would turn back on soon. 

There was no such luck.

Wearily, he dozed into the small base's cafeteria, where a small overhang was placed to overlook the training areas.

Corey was already there.

"Where's Kouka?" Ryuu asked, somewhat out in space as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Corey sighed; his legs propped up on a nearby table.

"The Big Guy's helping Jasper put finishing touches on DP. Her coat's healing twice as fast now, instead of a few months it'll be by the end of this month – by some _God-given miracle_ – that she'll be battle-fit." Corey explained, Ryuu hardly gave a response as he took a seat across from Corey. Corey's forehead creased with concern.

"You okay? I mean, I know we can't find Ivory an' all, but try and lighten up. She would have to leave our sight at some point." Corey said, trying to lighten the mood as he brought his legs down.

"Who says?" Ryuu retorted lamely as he placed the mug between his hands on the smooth surface of the table. He stared at its swirling contents.

"Oh – c'mon Ryuu! Where's that arrogant, _conceited_, **_demanding_**, **_know-it-all guy_** I knew?" Corey asked in a teasing tone.

"He's been gone," Ryuu replied grimly, Corey sighed.

"I suppose I should leave you to Kouka, he has more experience in the lovesick area-"

"I'm not _lovesick_!" Ryuu snapped, Corey raised a brow.

"Really? Then you must be suffering from something else…PMS?" Corey ducked as Ryuu motioned to chuck his mug at him, but then inhaled deeply before setting it back down. Then after a few seconds when Corey was sure he wouldn't actually throw it, brought himself back upright.

"You're aggravating." Ryuu claimed with a huff.

"I know and bear it with great pride. So…just so _you_ know, the whole base is aware of what's going on with you." Corey stated as his face darkened.

"You make it sound like I'm planning to murder someone," Ryuu replied coolly.

"Well, besides _that_." Corey shrunk at the frozen glare Ryuu sent his way. "Maybe I shouldn't share…"

"Out with it." Ryuu growled as he took another sip.

"_Ah-ha!_ You're curious! C'mon! Admit it!" Corey pressed, Ryuu frowned.

"No, I'm just trying to extract _bothersome_ information from a _troublesome_ member of this _stupid_ organization." Ryuu commented bitterly, looking up out of the corner of his eyes. Corey resisted rolling his eyes.

"If this information is so _bothersome_, why are you _bothering_ to extract it?" Corey asked, using his own words. Ryuu closed his eyes in thought for a moment before reopening them.

"Because otherwise, if I let you roam about with a secret I don't know then you would pester me till I figured it out, which usually goes on for days-"

"Last time it was a couple of months." Corey corrected; Ryuu narrowed his eyes on him.

"Anyway, just tell me." Ryuu pressed. Corey sighed with defeat.

"Fine, I'll tell you." Corey muttered with a disappointed face.

"Well?" Ryuu pressed a few quiet moments later, Corey's eyes shifted from the wall to his left then back at Ryuu.

"It's really quite obvious, you should have realized it yourself." Corey said with a discontent gleam in his charming orbs. Ryuu was growing impatient.

"Coooooore_yyyyy_…" Ryuu hissed as Corey twiddled his thumbs.

"I'm just stating a fact, but well, don't take this the wrong way…it's just that since Ivory came to Vermilion she's been trying to impress you and you just make things harder and harder for her…"

"Get on with it." Ryuu said bluntly.

"And see, you both keep pushing it onto each other, the more she improves allows you to throw more difficult obstacles in her way and in the meantime, your bond grows strong-"

"What of it?"

"It's just that you two show a compatible future." Corey finished cleanly. Ryuu held the mug to his lips, but his eyes were on Corey's straight face.

"Meaning…?"

"Well…" Corey looked slightly flustered, and then a smirk came out of nowhere. "The kind of relationship that makes _babies!_" With that statement Ryuu nearly choked on his coffee. Corey burst out laughing.

"W-What?"

"You heard me!"

"You think-"

"We ALL _think_ AND _believe _AND _know_!"

"You two totally dig each otha." Jasper's voice said as the man walked into the cafeteria himself, a mischievous old smirk on beneath his mustache.

"Thank you Jasper." Ryuu growled out, suddenly uncomfortable as Jasper and Kouka came in and made themselves at home around them.

Kouka had the biggest grin on his face.

"Don't worry, we weren't really suspicious till Ivory left and you started obsessing with the surveillance." Kouka reassured, though Ryuu hardly felt comforted.

"But even before then, Ryuu, you kept giving her glances-"

"There wasn't _anything_ to look at."

"She'll grow with time," Corey stated, but nearly had his head cuffed as Kouka hurled his huge hand at him.

"Don't talk about Ivory like that," Kouka scolded.

"Yeah, I know, she's almost like my little sister," Corey claimed, that sent a jolt through Ryuu and he put down his mug abruptly.

"I'll be…" Ryuu paused as he stood up, thinking of where he could go. "…somewhere."

Then he walked out of the room, his mood even damper than before he entered.

"Grea'…jus' when things were a almos' like ol' times…" Jasper whined.

* * *

Ivory sighed as she sat down on a large, gray rock in the middle of her forest trail. Haunter had vanished two hours ago and the moon was good and miserable above them, her half-face blinking down at them. Cloud-cover hid the stars from gazers and Ivory was saddened by it. 

"I guess I could make camp here," she moaned quietly as she dropped her pack. She was on her way to Lavender Town; there she knew the Pokemon Tower was running rampant with hostile ghosts and ghost pokemon. Maybe there, Haunter could negotiate and she could have safe shelter there for a few weeks until she had a solid plan laid out.

"_Haunteeeerrrr!"_

Haunter laughed again as she went flying backwards and landed hard on her back as the ghost popped out of nowhere in front of her face, stretching its mouth beyond normal length.

Then again, using Haunter as an ambassador wasn't such a wise idea.

"Sabrina said you might be more help to me than her," Ivory mumbled, Haunter spoke again as if to emphasize 'might'.

Ivory gave a tired sigh as she picked up her bag and dragged it under some trees where she pulled out a tightly rolled up sleeping bag and sprawled it out. It was a dark green, perfectly camouflaged in the forest terrain. Haunter rolled around in the air lazily, as if the region wasn't in turmoil.

"Get some sleep – if you actually need any – and don't bother me." Ivory ordered, recalling the past two nights with a shiver. The first Haunter found it funny, being near a creek and all to dump water on her head at two in the morning. Then just last night, he decided to smack a red R on black cloth (in which he swallowed later) the following morning and hung it just above her.

She nearly screeched when at first, she believed someone from TR was hovering over her, but then, seeing sunlight through the fabric, she reached up and attempted to grab the ghost, just to feel him and strangle him would make her happy for weeks if not for the rest of her days.

"You know what you could do, go and get to Lavender Town and speak to some ghosts in the tower. Maybe it might take a night or two to convince them we're trying to help them out." Ivory suggested, and even though she knew Haunter wouldn't go in the instant she issued it, it still unnerved her for him to be floating so close when she closed her eyes all snuggled up in the traveling bed.

"_Haunter…"_ She felt a little bit of weight settle on her shoulder, where, when she opened her eyes, found Haunter resting on her back. His eyes closed and for the night, his tricks at an end.

Ivory fell into deep slumber that night, without much of a care at all.

Unfortunately, by one or so in the morning, a gunshot sliced through the air. But only Ivory flung herself out of her bed and showed any motion of fear. The trees around her were quiet, the bushes solemn and the grass huddled together.

If anything was still alive around here, they kept themselves tight-lipped and immobile as to not be seen by the one armed.

Ivory quickly packed up and Haunter was at her side in an instant, actually serious for once and waiting for her orders.

"Check it out, don't be seen." She ordered as quietly as she could, but Haunter had been known for his sensitive ghostly senses and heard and actually obeyed. Within seconds his body dissolved into the air molecules and she heard nothing of him since.

To be on the safe side, Ivory hunched herself into the brush and waited for Haunter.

Moments later, he showed back up where he last saw her, his body came back into view and he eagerly looked around. Ivory swiftly stood up and walked over to him.

"Well?" Haunter cast her a painful look and at once, her fear came alive.

Someone or _something_ was murdered, and they both knew who was held responsible without actually seeing the crime.

Team Rocket.

"Lead me." Ivory demanded, Haunter nodded and flew on quietly, with Ivory right behind him.

Ivory was terribly sickened, her stomach had lurched but she held what little dinner she had in it.

Fifteen minutes of wandering led her to a small clearing where a body hardly bigger than hers lay facedown in the silvery-green grass. Crimson liquid oozed from the lifeless figure and dropped off the tips of grass blades.

In the dark with only a quarter moon, Ivory could hardly make out who it was, but with the light coming from a small item, she could see the figure had dark brown, spiky hair and wore black like she was.

Cautiously, Ivory looked around before darting out of the brush and headed for the corpse. Haunter motioned towards the item that was actually a poke'ball. It was loosely grasped in the boy's right hand that stretched beyond his head.

Sadly, Ivory gazed at him before bending down and grasping the ball. Inside, she saw a small charmander, crying helplessly in its ball, not even noticing Ivory.

Ivory sent Haunter a mournful glance; he sent one back in return and motioned for her to open it.

"No, not here." Ivory said, knowing they were sitting ducks to anyone if the lizard's tail was brought to full light. She especially didn't want to bring the attention of the murderer back here where she sat waiting.

"Till morning." Ivory promised the dead trainer, she would bury and mark him when she could see the forest around her. Haunter sorrowfully agreed and followed her back into the brush.

Ivory did not go back to sleep that night.

The next morning, Ivory released the charmander when she had Haunter give the area a quick scan. There was nobody within their perimeter and it was then, that Ivory began to understand what Sabrina meant.

The lizard was tear-stricken and almost made Ivory cry along with it, but if it hadn't been for her own weeping periods, she would have. She had grown deathly tired of crying.

The charmander ran back into the clearing and clung to the dead boy, weeping uncontrollably like it had done all night.

"_Haunter,"_ Haunter cried lightly as he produced a shovel out of shadow energy.

"Thanks," Ivory replied dryly, not grateful for being reminded she had to dig the hole.

A second later, two of her poke'balls snapped out and Kameko and Panther stood beside her, ready to help.

"Thanks you guys," Ivory spoke with appreciation this time, Haunter chuckled.

More than an hour later, they had a perfectly good-sized hole for the boy and Haunter, being the good soul he was, made bedding from summoning twigs and such from the forest and laid it down at the bottom of the hole. Then he vanished, not to be heard of for some time as Ivory approached the corpse.

Kameko and Panther had stepped back, a tinge of blue in their faces as they watched their trainer.

Unhappily, Ivory gently pushed the charmander aside and searched his pockets. Not finding anymore poke'balls, she placed both hands on each arm, preparing to turn him over-

"_C-char…"_ Jerking around to face the tiny lizard pokemon, she saw it point at its trainer's bag, still plump with supplies.

"Are you sure?" Ivory didn't feel right taking from the dead. But the charmander was persistent and waited for her to remove it.

When she did, she found several amounts of herbs and potions inside, ready to be used. The charmander cried out more as Ivory put them in her pack and put the bag back on the boy.

With enough courage (what she thought was enough) she swiftly moved the body onto his back and almost immediately did Ivory jumped back, losing all physical contact as fast as she could.

She _recognized _him. Sadly, she nearly cried as the back of her eyes started burning relentlessly. The boy was two years younger than she was, she remembered him from Pallet Town before she left. In fact, he was the first to greet her when she and Dale first moved in.

"_Hi, name's Cecil. Cecil O'Brien, I noticed a moving truck and just thought I'd come over-"_

"_Ah!" Dale Koguu said, turning up behind Ivory as the brunette gave a cheeky grin. "You must be Lenore and Jess' son right?"  
_

_Little child_

_Dry your crying eyes_

_How can I explain_

_The fear you feel inside_

_´cause you were born_

_Into this evil world_

_Where man is killing man_

_and no one knows just why_

"_Yeah, that's right. Do you like pokemon? Um…" he seemed to flush slightly._

"_It's Ivory Koguu, I'm Dale Koguu but please call me Dale." Dale answered his unasked question. Cecil flushed harder._

"_But for your question, yeah, I'm gonna get my first pokemon soon!" Ivory answered, Cecil gave a bright, boyish smile._

"_Really? I have two more years! Just TWO more! Then I'm getting mine! I want a charmander! I also already know what to name it!" Cecil rattled on about the subject, to the point Dale left Ivory and Cecil alone outside their new home._

"_What're you gonna call it?" Ivory asked, her eyes wide somewhat with curiosity. Cecil grinned again._

"_Blazing Heart, Blaze for short. With my pokemon, I'm gonna beat every Kanto gym leader and beat the Elite Four! If I'm lucky, I'll go one-on-one with Ash Ketchum! That would be awesome!"_

_What have we become_

_Just look what we have done_

_All that we destroyed_

_You must build again_

Ivory still didn't cry though, despite the throb to do so.

With the help from Kameko, Panther and the weeping charmander, they heaved Cecil to his grave. Then with a sob they lowered him in as far as their arms could reach and dropped him. With a sickening 'thumb', Ivory's fingers left his arm last along with his pokemon.

"H-How did he get s-so far?" Ivory managed to choke out; the charmander just started crying all over again. She shuddered violently as she peered over the edge of the hole to see the dark, cold face of Cecil with once beautiful, lively eyes that would never again open.

_When the children cry _

_Let them know we tried_

_´cause when the children sings_

_The new world begins_

She remembered, in the two years she had lived in Pallet Town, Cecil and herself became students of Professor Oak's. He took great pride in them, as they were most eager, she recalled running around with Cecil in the lab's pokemon preserve right in his backyard.

They were study partners, they were neighbors, and they were like sister and brother. They had so many things in common, like their fondness for pokemon. Ivory never forgot the time he ran off after the tauros herd, after arguing with her whether they were perfectly fine with humans or not.

_Little child_

_You must show the way_

_To a better day_

_For all the young_

_´cause you were born_

_For the world to see_

_That we all can live_

_In light and peace_

Despite the fact they were Ash's, Professor Oak had warned them to stay a good distance away from their pounding hooves. Though Cecil did well to completely disobey, it turns out besides the herd rumbling after him and Ivory (who went after him to 'save' him) the tauros would calm down considerably before rampaging in a different direction.

Cecil, being very grateful they changed course agreed never to do something so reckless again.

But becoming a trainer was being reckless – in this time.

How he had gotten so far from Pallet with only one pokemon amazed her, but she didn't feel like thinking.

_No more presidents_

_And all the wars will end_

_One united world under god_

Another hour later there was a fresh mound of dirt, indicating the new grave. Haunter reappeared with a nice-sized slab of stone, a smooth piece of waterbed stone that landed softly on the head of the rectangular shape in the ground. The charmander, which, by Ivory, was surely Blazing Heart, was still crying, but mildly now.

"I can't leave you here Blaze," she guessed right, the charmander raised his head to the name. "You're going to have to come with us,"

_I'm sure it wasn't a Rocket, if it were an agent they would have stolen Blaze. This was a madman._ Ivory thought seriously as she bent down and placed a kind hand on the lizard's head. She gave an understanding smile.

"_Please_ come with us," Ivory said, a beg hidden in her tone. Blaze hesitated but slowly he nodded.

_When the children cry_

_Let them know we tried_

_´cause when the children sings_

_The new world begins_

"I'm sure you didn't know, but Cecil was a friend of mine too. He was the first one I made in Kanto." Ivory began after they resumed their journey to Lavender Town. Blaze was enveloped in her gentle embrace, his back to her breast. Panther and Kameko were in their poke'balls; comfy and sleepy. Haunter floated through the air as if he had no mass – though Ivory believed he didn't.

The sun was high by the time they made a short break underneath an old pine tree, the maples and oaks around them bare and vulnerable. Thick bushes surrounded them, making it safer.

"You must eat if you want to keep up with my training schedules." Ivory encouraged, Kameko and Panther grinned at the newcomer, Blaze's eyes brightened somewhat as he took the sandwich.

_What have we become_

_Just look what we have done_

_All that we destroyed_

_You must build again_

"Blaze, I'm not your trainer. But…you need someone, you need _us_. This is a cruel world we are living in right now, we're not even sure if we'll live to the end of Team Rocket's rule. So you're coming with us no matter what Blaze…but as soon as it's safe again!" Ivory promised, she held out her pinkie to Blaze, the three other pokemon watched with anticipation. "I'll let you go and I won't get in your way then. I promise."

_No more presidents_

_And all the wars will end_

_One united world under god_

"_Char!"_ Blaze cried quietly as his small claw hooked her pinkie.

They shook on it.

"Don't feel alone, you're among those who understand." Ivory spoke true, Kameko and Panther nodded, Haunter gave a haughty chuckle in agreement.

"_Haunter!"_ All of them turned on him and shushed him. Haunter huffed and vanished.

"We love you Blaze." Ivory claimed with genuine sorrow in the depths of her azure orbs. Blaze swallowed the rest of his sandwich with pain.

"C-Char…" Ivory gathered the lizard in her arms and let him cry into her chest, Kameko and Panther joined in and Haunter sat on the tip of the pine tree, keeping watch as his eyes sunk into the shining sun. Its light rays going right through him, giving him only a slight outline of his form. 

_When the children cry_

_Let them know we tried_

_´cause when the children fight_

_Then we know it ain´t right_

_When the children break_

_Let them know we´re awake_

_´cause when the children sings_

_The new world begins_

"_I can't believe I have a charmander! I finally have one! I have a pokemon!" Cecil cried happily as he held the charmander at arm's length._

"_Char! Charmander!" The lizard pokemon cried feebly._

"_I'll call you Blazing Heart, 'cuz one day we'll beat all kinds of trainers and-"_

"_Here's your poke'balls and-"_

"_-we can't forget the gym leaders-"_

"_Cecil, I know you're eager but please listen to me, it's very dangerous out there and-"_

"_Oh! I love you Blaze!" An excited Cecil cried as he crushed the lizard with an overwhelming bear hug._

_Even with his lungs getting squeezed, Blaze smiled and shared his new trainer's excitement and knew it would never die._

**_His flame would forever hold strong._**

* * *

**A/N:**

_Hiya! Yeah, this story is still going strong and I realize I am SEVERELY neglecting my other stories, but they're on serious hiatus right now so yeah...I'm hooked to my pokemon story thank you. Anyway, I'm trying to get re-obsessed w/ Fruits Basket so I can find inspiration to break me out of my Writer's Block LOL _

_Anyway, same ol' same ol' RR_

_And I might just start getting fluffy! XD_

_Till next time!_

**When the Children Cry (c) White Lion****_  
_**


	17. The Bishounen

**Chapter Seventeen --- The Bishounen**

"_Soshite itsumo akirameteta…_" Ivory took a deep breath, it had been three weeks since she had left Saffron City and she was stuck outside of Lavender Town. Tired of waiting, she had tried making a move, but every time it seemed Team Rocket knew she would and make a surprise appearance. Of course, they hadn't _seen_ her, but at this rate, it was bound to happen.

Blaze grew experienced over their long camp-out. He befriended Kameko, Panther and Haunter easily. Aldara wanted nothing to do with him, but remained in her ball most of the time more than ever.

Ivory knew she would make a racket at some point out of restlessness, all the more reason she got inside Lavender and found cover. Trees and bushes won't be safe for long; she was surprised they had even lasted this long.

"_Yakusoku mo hatase nakute…_" With a sigh she hummed the tune a bit, waiting for her favorite part to sing before using her voice to create coherent language.

"_Eevee…" _Panther yawned as he went to curl up in her lap. Haunter, just returning from a quick scan of their area, dozed off for a bit in a nearby branch. Kameko had withdrawn into her shell, listening to the soft melody.

"_Day by day kasaneta my heart tori modoshitakute I still love you, I need you love again…_" Her voice grew quiet and she paused, Kameko peered out to see what possibly could be wrong. She didn't hear pounding feet, the obnoxious whistling from advanced arms or even men shouting.

Panther gave Kameko a sad look and instantly Kameko understood the trouble was within. Blaze nuzzled into her left sleeve, demanding for some attention.

"It'll be dark soon, time to go back into the balls." Ivory said, nervousness welling up in her eyes. Kameko knew what it was, she was going to try one last time to get into Lavender – hopefully she would succeed this time.

"_Char…" _Blaze mumbled as his eyelids drooped heavily. Ivory smiled as she returned her pokemon then looked up at Haunter.

"Clear?" she questioned.

"_Haunter,"_ he said with a nod, Ivory nodded back as she stood up and swung the bag up onto her shoulder. She looked around before cautiously moving forward, Haunter disappeared - he was further ahead.

Within thirty minutes, they were both right outside the security gate. Ivory found it funny that TR still considered it a security gate, as before security was meant to keep lowlifes like them out. Now it was to keep innocents at bay before their arrested for the suspicious activity of walking towards the town.

_Three guards, one up top and two on the bottom…not bad._ Ivory thought as she looked at Haunter, their gazes met and he vanished without a word.

"_HAUNTER!"_ Haunter burst out of air and stuck his tongue out at the guards feet from their faces, the guards instantly reacted.

"It's one of the ghosts!" one cried.

Ivory snickered as the one who cried out tried to run away, but was held back by his 'partner' before he received a sharp right hook. The man hit the ground cold, Ivory suppressed a gasp – he must've been forced to join them or was dumb enough to try and flee.

Yet it was a nice enough distraction, Haunter laughed out at the what he thought was an elementary antic and collected the last two guards attention. The top one was pressing his communication device, signaling he was calling in back-up or capture equipment.

"Go! Arbok!" The bottom remaining guard summoned a large, violet cobra. Haunter went silent for a moment, before cracking up at it. This seemed to boost a hot temper within the arbok as it hissed and flung itself at the ghost pokemon without a command from its trainer.

"_Chhhhharrrrrrrbok!_" The snake hissed thickly as it revealed three-inch fangs; the material was nearly invisible that if it weren't for the moon's light, there wouldn't be much of an outline.

Haunter vanished and reappeared behind the top guard and pushing him over and onto the arbok.

"_You-You freakin'-"_ The top guard swore under his breath as he went to get on his hands and knees. Ivory heard a satisfying number of popping bones. The bottom guard hurried over and while he attempted to pull the other out from beneath his heavy pokemon did Ivory take her chance.

With one last look to see if there were any bystanders, she bolted out of her hiding place and ran past the Rockets (successfully snatching the pass' keys) and jabbed one key after another into the knob.

Yet the knob clicked open and turned, revealing Haunter on the other side giving a goofy grin.

"_Nice_," Ivory whispered with that last of her breath before slipping inside. Haunter vanished and the door on the other side flew open, where it had smacked into the single guard and knocked him out. As Ivory darted out of the door (which was a big mistake on her part), she heard another man screaming from atop the pass – Haunter must've got him.

When Ivory gave the path ahead of her, her full attention, she nearly dug her heels in to come to a stop, but realized with her momentum she could easily parade past him. If push came to shove, she would ram into him.

There was a guy (or at least she thought it was a guy) blocking her path. Behind him were several grim-looking houses, all seeming to speak for their inhabitants as tired and mournful.

The guy looked about her age (if not a year or so older) with a lean, lanky figure and shoulder-length magenta hair. His eyes were neon green; they shined brilliantly in between strands of his bangs, his lashes dark and face altogether beautiful.

His slender frame was loosely adorned by a black cloak, a small, bold red 'R' over his left breast. His hands were in his pockets and his boots seemed too big for him.

He didn't move, even when she ran past him. Less than five feet away was she and he hadn't even flinched, only his neon orbs followed her – curious, _forbidding._

Ivory ran to the nearest house, just now feeling her rapid heart rate and the fear that clutched the organ. Slamming herself into the brick wall behind the nearest house, she grasped her shirt where he heart was and took deep breaths.

_He isn't human!_ Was what she thought – over and over.

"_Haunter?_" The amethyst ghost hovered inches from her face, with a clawed hand extended; he grasped her cheek and pinched it. She glowered at him as she roughly smacked it away and Haunter rolled away laughing. Ivory snarled as she felt the place he pinched burn red and sting.

"I'm still alive if that was what you were wondering, _stupid pokemon…_" Ivory growled as she took this chance to look around. Lavender Town was literally a ghost town, which was quite suiting as it did contain the Pokemon Tower. No one was out of his or her homes, there were no friendly bird pokemon chirping away excitedly like she had once dreamed there would be and one, lone tower ominously looming over the whole thing.

Haunter realized where they were and upon his face was that strange, faraway look as his gaze fell upon the top part of the tower.

"Let's hurry," Ivory spoke calmly, Haunter broke out of his trance and nodded.

With another check Ivory darted away from the brick house and sprinted towards the tower's entrance. When they were within yards of it, she spotted several glowing pairs of eyes behind the glass doors. Haunter vanished and the doors opened but Ivory stopped out of fear before the doors.

It was like entering a haunted house all over again from the times her father made her go inside in Mahogany. She dreaded Halloween each year, terrified of the monster costumes many kids and adults managed to make. It was the candy she looked forward to, though she often sacrificed much of her childish dignity because she was always found running away from doorsteps. Usually screaming because a skeleton popped out of the wall when she rang the doorbell.

But this time, these weren't kind people behind masks, they were either living or corpse of pokemon (the latter was unlikely but her imagination provided the idea). They were all glaring at her, at first surprised the doors even opened she supposed, they must've glued it shut. Yet they quickly revived from the mild shock and their unnerving eyes dared her to set foot upon the foundation.

"I'm not _them,_ please, I need a place to stay – _they're_ after me too, for having pokemon, for trying to return to the old ways." Ivory racked her brain for ideas to lessen the new threat, but the pokemon the eyes belonged to didn't flicker. Not one softened.

_I must've not been the first to plea,_ Ivory thought sourly, imagining a TR agent trying to get inside.

A chorus of groans rang softly behind the pokemon eyes, like they were conversing with one another. Ivory crossed her fingers, where was that Haunter, he was supposed to be her ticket in here.

"_Haunter!_"

_Speak of the Devil – really._

Haunter bounced out of thin air among the spooky eyes and beckoned her in. He was crazily happy for some reason, perhaps it was because he had already tried to reason with them – and succeeded!

"Did you do it Haunter? We're allowed?" Ivory couldn't believe their luck when Haunter nodded excitedly as the eyes disappeared. Ivory hurried in and the doors clamped shut behind her. Haunter floated near her, quite at ease.

Then, to Ivory's surprise, two other ghost pokemon hopped out of the darkness and squeezed Haunter in tight embraces. A gengar and a gastley. Well, the gengar was squeezing Haunter; the gastley was cheerfully grinning until its eyes landed on Ivory.

"_Gastley?_" the ball of gas cautiously approached the gray-haired trainer; Ivory smiled with reassurance and raised a hand calmly for it to see she held no threat. Gastley checked her other hand before plummeting into her stomach and rubbing affectionately.

"_Gengar!_" the four-limbed ghost pokemon called the gastley over, but it was no use, the ghost did stop moving and turned to face the gengar.

"_Gastley gas, gas gastley!_" The gastley was very pleased, and apparently so was the gengar, as he flushed somewhat before giving a nice wave towards Ivory.

"Hello," Ivory greeted mutually as she patted the gastley, who backed away from her touch. Its large eyes looked up at her admiringly.

"Um…friends of yours?" Ivory asked Haunter dumbly. Gengar motioned for her to follow him and she did. She treaded carefully around a shattered chandelier that seemed to have been there for a while as cobwebs and spinaracks had made their home on it.

Haunter loyally (for once) stayed by her side, Ivory was thankful, she wasn't eager to walk alone in such a dark, gloomy place. Gengar and Gastley lurked ahead, they led her up several staircases, each floor more abundant with tombstones than the last. The funny thing was Ivory found that they were all in different patterns, each creating its own little walkway to the next staircase.

When they reached what Ivory thought was the top, she looked out a window. She had to clean away a fair bit of dust though, to see a troop of Rockets entering the town.

"_Gastley,_" Gastley spoke in a horrified whisper as they began busting down doors and making their way inside. These actions made Ivory sick and her heart bellowed out to her to stop it all – battle them to the death, but her rational mind advised her to stay put. She still had a lot to learn before she broke out in a full-fledged battle against Team Rocket.

Someday Team Rocket, someday… 

Then she spotted a magenta-haired figured he was on a roof. Now she was sure he wasn't any regular human being. She scampered away from the window when he turned his green gaze on the tower, on the window she was just at.

"_Gastley,_" She came face to face with the gas ball, it seemed to have been apologizing. Ivory looked at Gengar, whom was now pressing a paw against the wall. The brick sunk in a low rumble was heard, within seconds, a small shaft in the wall moved aside and revealed a small stairway.

"_Gengar,_" Gengar hovered before Ivory before floating up into abyss. Gastley followed and with one encouraging glance from Haunter, he was leaving too. Ivory rushed after them, the wall leaping back into its previous position.

Ivory was swallowed by pitch black darkness, the temperature seemed to have dropped several degrees and the threesome's eyes were glowing, staring at her for a second before disappearing in mystical wisps.

A stream of light appeared it flowing out of a thin, vertical crevice above her. Taking a few more steps she peered through, a warm aura emitted from the room and suddenly the stairwell was a comforting lukewarm.

Haunter quickly reappeared on the other side, again scaring Ivory to the point she nearly fell back. The ghost pokemon chuckled before the door opened all the way, blasting Ivory with blinding light. Holding up her arms in front of her, she blinked several times so her eyes could adjust to the visibility.

When they could stand it, she lowered her arms and peered inside.

It was a child's dream room. A carousel stood in the middle of the top floor with colorful beach balls, toy blocks, stuffed pokemon and the wallpaper was a honey yellow. A friendly rug covered the floor and near her was a rocking ponyta, where Gengar had once rocked joyously years ago. Now, everything in the room, despite its lovely glow, seemed unused.

"_Haunter,_" Haunter was grasping a picture frame, its back to her. Haunter looked terribly sad, like he had never laughed in a long time when he had just done so moments ago. Gengar and Gastley also seemed oblivious to the room's vibe, as their eyelids were dropped and their haughty humor was gone.

"What is it?" Ivory asked, Haunter – with hesitance – handed her the picture frame. She took it and flipped it around, gently, but firmly holding it.

It was a picture of the young, ten-year-old Ash Ketchum. It was a shot of him laughing, he was unaware one of the ghosts had shot a picture of him somewhere outside the tower.

"You knew him, didn't you?" Ivory inferred, the three nodded glumly. Ivory looked around the room. "He played with you, you were all very happy." The times before Team Rocket must've been awesome, Ivory wanted to visit that era.

"_Gengar,_"

Ivory looked at Gengar, Haunter looked at his two pals with curiosity as a new presence entered the room.

"They want you to find him, he was their first human friend after all." An aged voice filled the room; Ivory jumped and turned to her right where an old, decrepit lady sat in a rickety rocking chair with a golbat carved into the head. Ivory mentally smacked herself, she could've been a Rocket that could've had her by now – she really needed to be more careful.

The lady was a foot shorter than Ivory, but her eyes were hard with the smallest glimmer of kindness in them. Her hair seemed washed out and curled upon her frail shoulders. In her bony hands was a sturdy cane and her attire consisted of an old-century dress with aging slippers. All in all, this woman held a foreboding image.

Ivory instantly recognized her as the Elite Four's Agatha.

"I've been watching you – Ivory Koguu." Agatha's diamond-hard gaze remained on Ivory, scanning her and carefully analyzing any movement. "You have come far from Pallet Town, taking on an abnormal journey in an enemy-infested region – naïve adolescent, that you are. Are you unaware of the terror that had befallen your home town?"

Ivory narrowed her eyes on her, not sure whether respect was what this woman deserved.

"For your info, I DO know what happened! Besides, is it honestly any of your business what I'm doing? At least I'm _doing_ something! Unlike you and the rest of the Elite Four, who've been sitting around for the past two years!" The ghost pokemon watched the two carefully, Haunter took back the picture from Ivory's shaking hands that shifted into fists once the object was gone.

Agatha sat there; unmoved.

"That was foolish, Sabrina should know better…letting you go off on your own. She knows very well what could happen to a young girl like yourself, are you aware of that too?" Agatha was grinding her nerves, and the sly old lady knew that.

Ivory turned red slightly, no, she hadn't really thought of the tortures that awaited her if she was captured – was she taking her lucky breaks for granted? If it wasn't for the help she had gotten from Brock, Ryuu, Misty, Hiromi…her pokemon.

"You know as well as I do that Team Rocket is in control, but unlike me, you have no idea what awaits you in their dungeons, their labs, their own_ living quarters_. You are an _ignorant_, close-minded, stupid child. You shouldn't have left home; but then again, it was a good thing that you did. Otherwise you would be dead, like your father, Professor Oak, Ash Ketchum's mother-"

"Shut up you old hag! They're NOT dead! They're not!" Ivory's whole body quaked with pain of the idea her father was dead, after what happened with her mother – no, she wouldn't choose the path her mother did – she couldn't bare it, not the thought of it either.

"Just because you're ancient doesn't mean you know everything! You could live for a hundred years and still not understand why you liked a certain food or _someone_. Someone could've died and you would never know why they had to die!" Flashes of the sizzling venemoth came before her eyes and she quickly shook them away.

"And don't tell me that crap that I don't _understand_! Don't tell me I'm not old enough to _understand!_ No matter how young or old I am, I'll admit there will always be problems that I won't ever solve. I bet I know what _you_ don't understand! Would you be able to tell me why one of my friends died? Was if for the cause? To get rid of Team Rocket when his only crime was to take care of his one pokemon?"

Blaze blinked away tears as he recalled Cecil, Kameko attempted to comfort him with words but found it futile as the charmander broke out crying.

Releasing the fire lizard, Ivory cradled him in her arms. His cries quieted some before he snuggled into her chest, sniffling.

Agatha only stared.

_Man, she's infuriating!_ Ivory thought with a scowl.

"True, the reason why people must die will forever be unknown. Yet use this anger, use the hatred from the ones that possibly massacred your hometown, turn that into power – skill, and if you can master that strong responsibility. You _will_ take Team Rocket down." Agatha suddenly seemed to be encouraging Ivory, which thoroughly shocked her.

The elderly woman stood up, some of her joints cracking. Two more gengars showed up, watching their trainer with worry.

"I'm fine," Agatha shooed them away before turning back to Ivory. "In the mean time, I will help you. I've been ignoring the Earth Organization for quite a while now, I bet they're wondering where you are."

"But aren't I wanted? I mean, they're all wanted but I'm-"

"I understand, you think you're top priority to Team Rocket because of your mother." Agatha actually smiled softly at this. "That's wise indeed Ivory Koguu, very wise. After all, Giovanni would hardly want you around let alone the rest of your friends."

Ivory felt relieved.

"I'll first train you in the art of poison, who knows, it'll come in handy when you have a few vials on you. And with little stock left in the Poke'Mart, maybe a few smokescreens and revives might do, but seeing as you have a charmander, he should learn how to use Smokescreen soon." Agatha walked on, her crane clanking onto the tiled floor outside the rug as she went.

Ivory stroked Blaze as they all watched Agatha.

"How can I train _here?_ Isn't it holy ground?" Ivory asked, Agatha snorted.

"There are angry spirits roaming the Pokemon Tower as of late if you hadn't noticed." Agatha said bitterly, Ivory recalled the narrowed eyes of pokemon beyond the entrance doors when she first showed up earlier – were those spirits?

"As long as something like turmoil caused by such an intentional group like Team Rocket, it wouldn't matter if blood sheds on _holy ground_. Besides, the spirits might want to help in my training you." Agatha then grinned wickedly. "I've heard you're a bit of a scaredy-cat – frightened of betrayal (thought who isn't?), buy when I'm done with you. Well…let's just say you'll be scared of nothin'."

Ivory felt a shudder run through her spinal column, the woman meant what she said and she was sort of terrified by what such a ghastly old lady could do. Then she reminded herself she was an infamous Elite Four member, which only worsened her fear.

"But don't worry, you'll have quite a bit of Rocket-bashing which I'm sure you'll enjoy." One of Agatha's gengars appeared at her side with a steaming teacup. Ivory was given one as well by her other gengar.

"Now, about that fearow of yours, we're gonna have to do something about her before you can fully trust her in battle again – those kind of pokemon aren't exactly considered trustworthy y'know, since Rockets favor them and spearows." Agatha stated reasonably, soon after taking a sip from her teacup.

Blaze, whom Ivory placed on the floor when she received her drink, watched the batty lady intently. Ivory took a sip, only to get chastised strongly within the second she did.

"You're first mistake! Drinking a beverage with contents you are unaware of! Risky and foolish! At least fake it if you must in unpleasant company – but NEVER drank untrustworthy tea, or any other liquid of any kind." Agatha growled Ivory felt her heart sink.

"And don't get so discouraged now, you've made it hard for Team Rocket to track you now. Don't make it so easy to the point they can simply kill you with a little drought of herbal tea." Agatha drank again, then narrowed her eyes on Ivory.

"We have a lot to do within two weeks – bah! You think I'm gonna let you intrude on my sanctuary any longer than that? Feh! You have regions to save girl!"

* * *

**A/N:**

_Hola! Que pasa? Yeah, whatever._

_You guys know the drill please R&R, I've been on my feet all day and my heels kill! Waa!_

_All well, feet are feet. Man, I'm gonna be a little evil too evil, for Ivory, with the way I'm going with this chapter she's going to have too much fun with pokemon! I wish pokemon were real! That would be so much fun! Yeah, I know. LOL_

_Luego._


	18. Agatha's Legacy

**Chapter Eighteen --- Agatha's Legacy**

_**Two weeks later…**_

"That was actually a nice catch," Agatha praised as Ivory picked up the poke'ball and examined her new recruit. Haunter was off with his long lost buddies, possibly patrolling the walls of the tower. Ivory and Agatha had been on the fourth floor for three hours now, where Ivory was browsing about, rehearsing ingredients in her head and feeling hope swell within her.

The ghastly (she nicknamed Chandra) inside the ball grinned sheepishly, Ivory found that ironic. After dealing with Haunter for weeks, one would think all ghost pokemon were pranksters. But not this one, Chandra was a shy girl – she was easily caught.

"Where did you decide on heading? Cerulean like I suggested?" Agatha asked as they ventured in the dark (though by now, Ivory was well adapted to the pitch-black shade) towards a staircase.

Ivory nodded.

"Yeah, before when I was there, Casey sent word of trouble at the nearby power plant. I can get a lead on where to go there." Ivory explained, Agatha nodded as she hobbled down the stairs. Ivory kept an eye on her, the frail frame of the oldest Elite Four was crippling. She was much older than Ivory's own grandfather. Ivory prayed the lady would at least see the end of Team Rocket's reign.

"I'm sure Misty and this _Ryuu_ will be glad to see you whole and intact." Ivory suppressed a growl, ever since she shared her stories with the old bat, the Ghost Mistress planned never to live it down that the teenager _liked_ the Blaziken trainer.

"Be careful, remember everything I taught you and most importantly – _don't be stupid._" Agatha reminded Ivory as they came down to the ground level.

To Ivory, it seemed all the spirits crowded around her, not angrily, but faithfully. Agatha grinned.

"The spirits are with you." Agatha coughed quietly, her eyelids drooping tiredly.

"I shouldn't have had you come all they way down those stairs," Ivory scolded mostly herself as she helped Agatha into a sturdy rocking chair beside the wall. Agatha's gengars and haunter appeared, sadly watching their trainer. Ivory's heart sank when her mind came to the same conclusion.

_Training her was only her last act._

Arbok slithered around the corner, although he was still strong, his scales were chipping, revealing his old age. The golbat followed, his claws weakly grasping a dusty ceiling lamp. All her pokemon were gathered around her, and so were the spirits of the tower's graves.

They were waiting for her.

Ivory wanted to cry but knew Agatha wouldn't approve.

"I need my rest now, you, on the other hand, need to hurry. Time won't work with you girl, you have to work with it." Agatha pointed out bluntly. The gengars and the haunter frowned as the old woman coughed violently.

"How can I leave you like this though?" Ivory questioned, Agatha narrowed her eyes at her, but they softened immediately.

"Like you left your friend, Cecil. Move on like you believe your only family is still alive. You have spirit girl, use it. Use it well," Agatha raised a hand and motioned for her to leave.

"There's your exit, head to Cerulean and give greetings for me. I'm tired of living this life, I'll see you in the next." Ivory, even though she had spent two fruitful weeks with the Elite trainer, was still surprised by how the woman could say such mournful words.

"I can't live forever," she spoke, as if reading Ivory's mind. "None of us can, that goes for Giovanni too. Team Rocket will one day go down and _stay_ down. Make sure of it Ivory _Seken_ Koguu."

With that, it felt like the spirits had hands, hands that guided her away and pushed her towards the door. Agatha smiled proudly.

"I've lived my life, now to live yours. As my legacy, survive and keep my lessons alive for generations. Say hello to Professor Oak for me, that old sack of skin and bones had better keep messing with those poke'dexes." Agatha almost laughed, as she said that, Dex beeped on and off in Ivory's pocket.

"I'll make sure of it." Ivory said, trying to smile as the doors were pushed open and she was forced out in the night. When the doors had shut, the inside went black. Slowly, the gengars and the haunter's eyes faded out.

Ivory was certain her ghost pokemon would remain alive for decades to come and uphold the stronghold that was Agatha's last abode.

On cue, Haunter, Gengar and Ghastly appeared before Ivory.

"Ready to go Haunter? Or would you rather stay here with Gengar and Ghastly?" Ivory asked lightly, making sure Haunter knew he had a second option. Haunter shook his head.

"_Haunter,_" It seemed he rather not leave Ivory's side. Gengar and Ghastly pointed out that they must stay at the tower. It was their home and had no right to leave it in the care of spirits and preferred not giving it up to Agatha's ghosts.

"If you're all right with it, we need to go." Ivory said, Haunter nodded and turned to his good friends. At the same time, Ivory looked around. Such a ghost town Lavender was, Team Rocket disturbed this place so badly…

"_Haunter,_" Gengar and Ghastly said their good-byes before vanishing, Haunter and Ivory faced each other.

"We're not gonna be back in a while, are you sure?" She asked him, he nodded with certainty. "All right, find a safe exit." She had already told Haunter of her plan to return to Cerulean, so as they didn't risk being overheard out in the open.

Haunter disappeared much like his buddies did.

Unlike his buddies, however, he returned two moments later with good news.

She would be heading towards the Rock Tunnel, an area sure to be filled with Rockets, of what rank she wasn't sure but being spotted by any would be sure to bring in powerful troops.

Ivory found the whole thing suspicious; being with Agatha for two weeks was paying off as she slunk onto Route 10. According to a small map she picked up (this would've been where that Map on the poke'gear would've been handy), they were less than a mile away from the Rock Tunnel's entrance.

"All right, Haunter, I want you to meet a new friend I got earlier." Ivory summoned Chandra, the timid ghastly looked around and when she spotted Haunter, she flushed and hovered away. "This is Chandra, I want you to show her how we work."

Haunter was undeniably very pleased and if it weren't for Ivory, he would've shot around like a silly, drunk man. Chandra became intimidated as Haunter instantly grasped her and spun her fast with him. Ivory felt sorry for her.

"_Haunter!_ Get to it!" Ivory growled, Haunter stopped enough to nod before vanishing with Chandra.

Within the next twenty minutes, Ivory had successfully managed herself in a thicket of leaves before the Rock Tunnel. She spotted the insides lined with lanterns. She knew very well the nocturnal pokemon like zubat must've had a hard time adjusting to it, but were probably captured as they were popular among Grunts.

They would go; Ivory planned to rip those lanterns out when she had the power to do so and to back her up afterwards. Now, unfortunately, was not the time.

"All right Panther," she spoke, the eevee popped out of his ball and didn't make a sound. He glared stiffly at the five Rocket Grunts armed at the entrance, behind them was the Rock Tunnel's lit entrance.

"Double Team," Panther was cloned within seconds, about five of them stood beside him, all ready to launch out of the bushes. The real Panther looked up determinedly at Ivory.

"You're staying here," she whispered, he stubbornly shook his head. Her eyes widened. "But-"

"_Eevee,_" Ivory gained a far off look in her eyes, she remembered all too well how it was to try and prove herself in front of Ryuu, Misty, Brock and so many others. They didn't praise her; they gave her a chance but didn't so much as congratulate her for a job well done. She'll give Panther his chance, and when he's done, she'll smother him with affection she knew he deserved.

"All right, but be careful. Those guns are long, try getting at their heads." Ivory ordered reasonably, Panther nodded as well as his clones. Ivory turned back on the Grunts, her eyes narrowed.

"Go."

They darted into different directions; the five clones hit each of the Grunts in the face. A couple of the guns shot off there, the other three were on the ground while their masters tried to pry the eevees from their faces. When someone came running out of the cave, the real Panther tackled him unconscious.

When Haunter and Chandra appeared above the knocked out Rocket, Ivory bolted from the thicket. She passed the five struggling agents, sprinting at such a speed she never had before she started her journey.

"Show me the way." Ivory demanded, but Haunter and Chandra were way ahead of her. Panther leaped onto Ivory's right shoulder, leaving behind the clones to deal with the Rockets until their time limit makes them disperse. With Haunter in the lead, they made their way through the tunnel.

Since Haunter and Chandra had explored beforehand, they avoided Rockets and security cameras.

"I don't know how you do it Haunt, but you do it swell." Ivory rasped as she squeezed out of a tiny tunnel in the wall. They were in a murky, untouched section of the Rock Tunnel. Either it was undiscovered by Team Rocket or they simply didn't need the rest of it.

"Are we almost out?" Ivory asked, Haunter nodded, Chandra was peering around nervously. Ivory featured a concerned look. "What is it Chandra?"

The ghost feebly avoided any eye contact with Ivory, the gray-haired girl sighed.

"Do you not like us? Or is it a matter of trust?" Chandra blushed a brilliant crimson, one of Haunter's clawed hands went to comfort her but she shied away.

"_Haunter…"_

"Don't worry, she'll warm up in a bit." Ivory said as she patted Panther on the head. "You did great boy, I'm proud of you." Panther squeaked with delight. Ivory didn't find it hard doing this with Panther, so why did Ryuu find it so difficult with her? It must've been a boy thing.

They continued through the tunnel soundly, but Ivory did overhear footsteps above them. Muffled by the layers of dirt, rock and soil between them. While they were walking, Ivory could've sworn she saw something stir out of the corner of her eye, but when she went to look at it, there would be nothing.

When a rock shifted to block their path, they found they had dug themselves into a problem.

"_Golem…_" the giant pokemon was fast asleep, apparently it dug into the wall and had fallen asleep then carelessly rolled into their path. Ivory found it miraculous it was still asleep.

"Any other way out?" Thankfully there was, Haunter led them back another twenty minutes and through another tunnel. Ivory wondered how many tunnels there could be in a tunnel? She found countless after being blocked again the second time by the tail of a snoozing onix, third a group of slumbering geodudes and the last a flock of zubat head under wings asleep that Ivory wasn't eager to wake.

By this time, Ivory found it too strange for it all to be a coincidence. These pokemon were guarding these tunnels, it must've been all they had left since TR moved in upstairs.

"Ideas are welcome," Ivory pointed out dryly to Haunter, Chandra and Panther. They didn't reply, they were fresh out of plans too.

"This is ridiculous, Haunter, do you think you could control the onix or golem with a Hypnosis? Maybe get one of golem's – oh my – I got it! Let's get to that golem Haunt!" Ivory exclaimed, her loud voice woke the zubat. At first they were all frozen, anticipating what they would do next.

"_Ghastly…_" Chandra backed away automatically as the zubat opened their wings threateningly. Ivory's back was to them, so she didn't see them open their mouths wide, revealing sharp vampire teeth.

Even Haunter showed the best of judgment and floated away. Panther's fur turned around when he saw the blue bats, he pawed Ivory's shoulder to look too.

When she did, they launched.

They soared and cried as they jetted towards them.

"Run!" Ivory took off with Panther clinging to her shoulder, Haunter in front of her and Chandra trailing behind him.

"Chandra! Mean Look 'em!" Chandra's eyes glowed and a pink barrier zapped the zubat back behind them. They furiously tackled the barrier, but found no escape. The group came to a halt before the golem; Ivory had her hands on her knees. Her face was a foot away from the golem's sleeping one.

When she peered up, she found two angry eyes narrowed on her.

"_Golem!_"

"So much for my plan! Run away!" Ivory cried as they ran back with Golem pounding after them. Ivory wore her tread as they skidded to a halt when the large bulk of the onix before rammed through the rock walls before them. It slithered away and Ivory and co. resumed their running.

They took a sharp turn and Golem passed them. Yet the group turned around to spot a cranky group of geodudes.

"Run again!" Ivory shouted as Haunter led them away yet again. The geodudes, unknowingly to them, didn't budge but went back to sleep.

Haunter rounded back to where the golem had once slept; they found the pathway clear again.

"Great! Hurry!" Ivory hurdled above the dent in the ground left by the golem's restless sleeping. She didn't stop running until she had to climb through a rocky shaft.

"_Haunter,_" Ivory would sigh with relief when they got out of the tunnel.

"So help me Haunter, one more issue like that and I'm getting you a poke'ball." Ivory teased, Haunter grinned as they popped out of the hole and into a lit tunnel way. On one side, Ivory spotted their exit, the other, unnaturally carved doorways on both sides. They must have labs and communication systems here.

With a mischievous grin, Ivory turned her head to look at Panther sporting an identical expression.

"Double Team," she said, Panther did so and about twenty were produced this time. Ivory pointed out the tunnel way with the doorways. They wagged their tails.

"Go wild." That they did, as they streaked off to cause mayhem for the organization, the group went off in the opposite direction. While they ran, Ivory had Haunter and Chandra go ahead and Hypnosis any guards out front.

As they passed the slumbering guards, Ivory found that Haunter probably added Nightmare as a bonus, finding their faces a little worse for wear.

It was scary for Ivory to realize as they came to the top of a small hill, beyond it a fresh bounty of long grass and a rushing river a little ways from it. Ivory saw that the river turned at her right and at the end of it was the Power Plant.

She wondered what kind of chaos they were pulling down there. She'll go to Cerulean first, she could get a full update there before she did something on her own.

All the while she hurried to the city, she honestly couldn't wait to see Misty and her sisters.

Even possibly Ryuu if he was in town, but Ivory had her doubts.

* * *

**A/N:**

_This must seem very boring, but I found this chap a little funny LOLs. I'm probably going to be updating A LOT slower than normal, see, school started and I have Chemistry, Spanish III and Algebra II out for my blood. Lord, my junior year in high school does not sound promising. But our homecoming's two weeks earlier this year, and the new vice principals were making fun of the guys during an assembly - saying they had a month to find a date. I don't think I'm going to have a date, I don't think I want one...but anyway, I'm excited! A friend that graduated last year is returing from boot camp soon! I think he's staying for a few days then going off to school for military medic training for the next 28 weeks. So yeah..._

_If you've read this far, you're my bestest fanfiction friend(s)!_


	19. Return to Cerulean

**Chapter Nineteen --- Return to Cerulean**

The town was quiet, if not more than before. But when Ivory saw the front of the Cerulean Gym, it was a severe comfort. There were butterfree wings fluttering in her chest from excitement, adding a spring to her step as she made her way down the street, ignoring the fact that she had Haunter floating above her. She had returned Panther and Chandra long before she entered the city.

When she came within twenty feet of the doors, sudden chaos flew through her ears. A chair had suddenly been flung through a glass window, making Ivory dodge to the left and stare through the unbroken windows.

Not that it made any difference, she couldn't see inside with the wooden boards nailed to them.

"A battle? Between how many?" She asked herself out loud, she sent Haunter in to check before bounding in herself. The attempt would be in vain if she were captured on the spot.

When he returned naught but ten seconds later, he reported (by his fingers) possibly fifteen trainers dueling it out inside. Grasping a black cloak out of thin air, Haunter demonstrated how ten were TR agents. By acting like an ape, she figured they were Grunts.

"Let's go, c'mon Kameko!" Ivory cried, releasing the turtle.

"_Wartortle!"_

* * *

Misty didn't feel worried, especially since she was fighting against the common agent. Yet for some reason, she had the worst of sinking feelings at the deepest pit of her stomach. 

"Dewgong! Ice Beam!" Misty shouted, the white seal gave a musical cry as an icy blast escaped the power of its shrewd horn, effectively freezing three Grunts and their pokemon. She smirked before peering over at her battle allies.

"Need help?" she asked, her old spirit seeping through. Corey snorted.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Cory said as he flicked his hair. "Rhydon! Tackle!" The seven-foot pokemon built of hard rock bludgeoned the opposing rhyhorn, smacking it into its trainer and the other Grunt standing too close.

"How's that?" he asked with rising arrogance, not seeing an approaching Grunt with an unloaded gun, he raised it with the blunt end glaring at Corey. Misty opened her mouth to yell.

"Razor Leaf!" Meganium shot the Rocket to the ground, not before shredding the clothes and skin off his back. Casey patted it on the head.

"Kouka's taking care of the other four," Casey said.

"Where's Gizelle?" Misty asked, Cory and Casey exchanged expressions.

"Gizelle's here?" Corey asked curiously. Casey growled.

"What's that witch doing here?" Casey asked with malice. Misty mentally admitted she didn't like the girl much either since their first encounter at Pokemon Tech.

"Who knows, I'll tell you later – they're not in living quarters are they?" Misty asked, concern written all over her face. Corey and Casey's eyes widened.

"You two take care of these guys, I'll go find them, stay and help Dewgong!"

"_Dewgong!"_ Dewgong cried as Misty took off out of the gym arena.

* * *

"Kouka! Gizelle!" Misty cried, as soon as she ran through the marine halls and darted through the door to the living section of the gym, a sudden wind nearly blew her off balance. 

"What the-" she lost the breath in her when another body hit hers and they both went flying to the ground. A pair of strong arms grasped them and held them down.

When the force died down, Misty found the lovely brunette, Gizelle the one on top of her with Kouka just letting go.

"Sorry 'bout that, I still can't control her very well." _Even with Agatha's help…rats._ The trio looked up with surprise at the young girl they thought they knew. Now, they weren't sure if they knew her at all.

"Ivory?" Misty managed to choke out with fresh air. Ivory grinned nervously.

"I guess it was a good thing that I came here first after all," she claimed, Kouka stood straight; his height would have frightened her if she hadn't been acquainted with it before. He crossed his arms and gave her an intimidating stare-down.

"And where have _you_ been young lady?" Ivory would've laughed, but stifled it and twitched her eye to hold the bubbles in.

"Please, Kouka, as welcoming as that sounds all I can tell you is that I've done some _personal training_. Nothing big mind you, just some to get us into **real** shape. Oh ho, but let me say this, what Ryuu and Misty put me through BEFORE was nothing to compared to what that ol' bat gave me!" Ivory's spirit had rekindled; this situation was going better than she planned when Kouka's stance softened a bit.

"Ol' Bat? Who?" Misty asked, the brunette before her stirred. The Waterflower's eyes noticed Aldara; the unruly harpy perched on an astray hat rack not far. Her head and sharp beak glaring at a blue painted wall instead of them.

The room wasn't very bad, but if it weren't for Kameko, who stood much closer to Ivory, the sofa and the rest of the furniture, carpet and ceiling would have been much drier.

"Long story, but to keep it short, let's just say the Elite Four had something to do with it." Ivory stated. Misty and Kouka put two and two together.

_Elite Four + 'Ol' Bat' equals ???_

"You're not talking about Agatha are you?" Misty and Kouka yelped in unison. Gizelle's eyes glanced up as if she were in a stupor. The hazy figure of their savior clearing slowly.

"Wow, you catch on fast."

"I can't believe it! Where had she been hiding?" Kouka asked, his arms unfolded and hands clenched. Their minds had gone haywire, thinking that after all this time of searching for the elderly lady, not finding her and then after a few weeks this girl had found her – possibly unintentionally!

"In the most likely place for someone like her," Ivory replied dryly.

"The Pokemon Tower?" Kouka questioned, Ivory smirked.

"_The old lady wanted to make that place her burial ground_," Ivory muttered so quietly that the other two couldn't hear her. They inclined their heads to motion they didn't get it.

"What?" Misty asked, Ivory shook her head.

"Nothing, so…what happened? I mean, how did this whole thing start?" Ivory asked, looking around, just not discovering the damage Aldara and Kameko applied to the place.

While Misty attempted to stand up and steady Gizelle at the same time, Kouka took it upon himself to explain.

"It was Gizelle here, she's been living down in Fuchsia for the past couple of years studying the wildlife in the Safari Zone. Thirty minutes ago when I was visiting Misty with Corey, she came running in – her cubone took down the door and planks – with these Rockets in tow." Kouka explained.

"Why was she running? And all the way from Fuchsia?!"

"Nah, I suppose she was trying to get back her or trying to pass through but got caught. Casey met up with her on the run and had her run here, Meganium took care of the bulk, but ten kept on after her. Or so Casey says," Kouka finished.

"Anyway, it's quite a surprise seeing you. Somehow it feels like forever," Misty added somewhat joyfully, but her aquatic eyes still held that dim hue Ivory remembered from before. Her heart ached for Misty to recover.

That meant finding Ash and bringing him back.

"Hey, the other guys are tied up and – IVORY!" Corey bounded into the room and past the three and embraced Ivory in a crushing hug.

"When Ryuu lost track of you we nearly all went sick of worrying," Misty said Ivory felt the tears but automatically she pushed them back and her face remained unchanged.

"Really?" Ivory asked, a little flushed after Corey released her.

"Yeah, even Ryuu was taking it hard. He hated not knowing where you were, you should've been there, in a way it was comical." Corey claimed, Ivory had to crack a smile.

So, he _did_ care.

"Where is he?" Ivory asked, instantly, everything became very solemn.

"Ryuu? Where is he? Do _you_ know?" the girl called Gizelle spoke, her eyes flashed in Ivory direction. The gray-haired girl was stunned, never had she seen such a gaze so brutal. A prick of jealously hurled at Ivory.

"Do you know where my Ryuu is?" Gizelle asked dangerously low, Ivory again had to stifle her throat.

_How dare she?!_

* * *

"Ryuu has been gone for the past week, he upped and vanished after a day or two after he departed for some mission. Something with the Safari Zone," Corey said, he sat next to Ivory, Casey on the other side. In front of them was a glass coffee table that miraculously survived the storm in the room, then on the other side of it was another couch with Misty, Gizelle and Kouka. 

"So…you guys are having the same problem with me with him?" Ivory asked, Kouka snorted.

"No, we're not really worried about him. You were a concern, we weren't certain you would return to us intact." Kouka answered bluntly. Ivory sweat-dropped.

"Oh, thanks for the vote of confidence." Ivory practically snarled, Kouka smirked in return.

"All in a day's work,"

"You still haven't answered me-"

"If I knew where he was wouldn't you think I would've told you by now?" _Not that I would tell you anyway. _Ivory snapped at the Gizelle girl. She was infuriating with that snobbish aura surrounding her; she radiated of arrogance and a platinum credit card. She was dressed in a Jean miniskirt with sinfully beautifully made pair of long legs in small, sturdy shoes and a silken blouse. Her chocolate locks poured over her shoulders like molasses and her skin was a lovely complexion.

Ivory disliked her to the core.

The fact that she called Ryuu hers also irked her greatly and she would make the girl's life as miserable as she makes Ivory's!

Gizelle remained silent, her glare unwavering.

Misty broke the silence.

"So, tell us, what's been going on?" Misty asked, Ivory peered at her.

"Aren't you curious first about what I found behind your gym? This creep," she flexed her arm behind her to point at a bag of bloody flesh before Aldara, who was jabbing at it with her sharp beak.

"He was trying to bug your system or something, Kameko managed to flatten him before he could do any real damage. Then at the price of letting Aldara toy with him, she fought off those four over there."

"You have to offer your pokemon sacrifices?" It appeared Casey found this funny.

"Only one of them,"

"Did he manage to pry anything open?" Kouka asked seriously.

"Only the outer wall, he couldn't tinker with anything though-I swear." Ivory claimed. The four (excluding Gizelle) gazed at Ivory. It's only been a few weeks, but the timid, shy girl had become a teenager with hardly any compassion. Was this change a turn for the good or the worst?

"I'll check it out anyway, the water could've done something…"

"Okay, other than that, I've only been training. Had a run in with some dead people and ghosts, but tis all." Ivory said, stretching a few leg muscles.

They all began thinking the same thing, excluding Gizelle of course.

_Wouldn't Ryuu be proud._

"Well, I came here for a few tips, Casey?" Ivory turned to her left where the blue-haired girl sat.

"Yeah?"

"Before when I was here, you were talking about the Power Plant? Has anything else happened recently?" Ivory asked. Misty and Corey looked at each other. Casey appeared undisturbed.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, Sparky told me the copies of Zapdoses in there – it has been confirmed they're trying to clone Zapdos – are dying off before they even leave the tanks they're in. One of them _dissolved_ from being exposed to the air!" Casey said, Ivory was taken back.

_What?_

"It's sad really, but more keep coming in and he says the scientists in there just won't give up. They all keep saying the same thing…_stronger than the last_. Creepy or what?" Casey finished.

"All the more reason for me to break in and find out what's going on in there," Ivory claimed, that caught all their attentions.

"What?"

"You can't just go through a window-"

"Ridiculous Ivory, I thought you had more sense than that."

"Iv, I'm all for being brave 'n all, but that's too much. Besides, you can't do it alone, not even Ash did something that stupid!" Corey claimed, but it looked like Misty was about ready to object to that.

Ivory gave him a hard stare.

"I'll take on the whole of Team Rocket by myself Corey, if it meant not losing in vain." Ivory stated coolly. Kouka sighed.

"You're quite stubborn,_ troublesome_, but admiringly stubborn. Sabrina told us some good stuff about you," Kouka spoke, Ivory's eyes lit up.

"Sabrina did?"

"A few wisely chosen words, but they spoke their meaning."

"Wow, I feel seriously honored."

_Yet she did warn us to be careful around you Ivory, what's that about you that's got even Sabrina concerned?_ Kouka secretly wonders as Ivory's face brightened more.

"You guys can always help me, maybe it'll be a team effort!" Ivory challenged, Corey and Misty appeared up for it suddenly.

"You know, that would do us some good." Misty said, Corey nodded in agreement.

"I need to take a break from running all over the place, I'm in." Casey spoke with a broad smile.

"What do you think Big Guy?" Corey asked, all looking at Kouka. He frowned.

"I think…" his eyes zoomed from one anxious face to another, he grinned widely. "This calls for a strategy,"

"Wicked Kouka!"

"Have any ideas yet?"

"I do!"

"It'll be called _Operation Zapdos_!"

All the while, the five left Gizelle in the dark, leaving her to her own thoughts.


	20. Dilemmas

**Chapter Twenty --- Dilemmas**

It hadn't hit her before, but it struck Ivory a sour cord when she thought about calling home, only to realize that there was no phone to reach. Well, any were among the ruins of Pallet Town. Misty had confirmed Ivory's worst fear, by showing her images taken from a camera latched on to a bird pokemon soaring above the wreckage.

Ivory twirled an empty poke'ball on a finger, than let it drop into her palm after a few seconds. She sat at the end of a spare futon she managed to burrow from the Waterflowers.

Speaking of Waterflowers, it turns out that Daisy, Lily and Violet were making a perilous trip across Victory Road and supposedly through Mt. Silver to make it to Johto. Misty told Ivory this with savage worry, although most of it wasn't obvious.

Ivory peered at a several boards lodged into the window at her left. When would it be safe to take them down?

_Knock! Knock!_

Ivory's eyes cautiously watched the door, it wasn't Corey or Kouka, their knocks were louder. It was too timid to be Misty's…so she allowed whomever it was to come in.

It was Gizelle.

_Oh, of all the people in this flippin' gym, why her?_ Ivory thought bitterly, the last thing she wanted to converse over was Ryuu, especially with his _soulmate_.

"_**Ryuu and I met at a Pokemon convention sponsored by Pokemon Tech, intelligent people match with other intelligent people, there's no such thing that opposites attract."**_

Ivory had to smirk with the memory of what she retorted back:

"_**If opposites don't attract, then why are you – a girl – falling for a GUY? You're saying we should keep to our own genders? That'll sure decrease the human population well,"**_

Ivory grinned; Gizelle had gone very red and had stalked away murmuring something like "I'm no lesbian." It cracked Ivory up.

"You're a new trainer, aren't you?" Gizelle asked smartly, she was obviously about two or so years older than the younger trainer. Ivory looked back at her blankly despite what she knew she was going to brag about.

"Yeah, so?" Gizelle laughed slightly.

"Just making sure, I was making sure I wasn't being threatened." Gizelle stated, Ivory raised a brow.

"Threatened?"

"You're thirteen, you're WAY out of your league." Gizelle claimed.

"Really? I could've sworn I was fifty." Ivory retorted, smirking to herself. Gizelle's nostrils flared, it was obvious whatever intimidating effect she was trying to pull wasn't going to work, and she knew it.

"Hmph, it's obvious that you're too immature to understand," That vexed Ivory like a needle prick, it would take more than Gizelle commenting her behavior she has tried to dwindle. "You see, you obviously have the hots for _my_ Ryuu. You need to find your place when it comes to boys, especially when we're being compared."

Ivory stared at Gizelle questionably.

"Are you going to get to the point sometime soon? You're boring me – horribly," Ivory said, how anyone could be so forward and boastful like this girl she did not know. What she really wanted to do was slug her silly then leave her out in a bloody pile for TR to find.

"So why was Team Rocket after you?" Ivory asked.

"None of your business!"

"You must not be that great, if Ryuu could fall for you then why didn't the upper-ranks do the same? They must be SO interested seeing as they sent their _lackeys_ to dispose of you." Ivory spoke, Gizelle snarled and started fuming red smoke.

"I-"

"Please share with me this _ultimate feminine advice_, I would like some – but then again, it'll probably be too cheap to be of any use anyway." This seemed to have sent Gizelle into an outrage.

"You little – _freshman!_" Ivory saw that Gizelle was sent back into high school girl mode, seeing people as classes instead of their superior natures.

"Go away please," Ivory stated, trying to calm the girl before she lunged for her throat.

"Don't tell me what to do-"

"Is there something wrong?" It was Misty. Gizelle chilled at once, but kept a cool demeanor.

"No." she snapped before flying out the door and sulking down the hall.Misty stared after her before her gaze fell on Ivory, said person displayed an innocent façade.

"What the hell Iv-chan," Misty said with a smirk, Ivory grinned, then went red.

"_Iv-chan?_"

Misty's smirk softened into a sneaky smile. She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, with a swift step she was next to Ivory and made herself a seat beside her.

"Do you have any control over your fearow?" Misty asked quietly, Ivory sadly shook her head.

"We've made progress with Agatha, but she still doesn't trust me all the way," Ivory answered. Misty observed the girl intently. Naught but an hour ago, Kouka had talked with Corey and Misty over his conversation with Sabrina.

_The night before_

"_**She says to keep a close eye on her, Ivory isn't much of a threat now, or so Sabrina told me, but she just told me to be careful. Like walking on eggshells," Kouka said, Corey cocked an eyebrow.**_

"_Like walking on eggshells?__** What's that supposed to mean? That Iv's gonna snap at any moment, what's Sabrina trying to say? Can't she just say it straight out what's wrong?" Corey growled never really one to admire riddles and codes.**_

"_**That's all Sabrina said? Just watch out for her? We've always done that," Misty stated.**_

"_**Yes, but Sabrina's a psychic – a powerful one, she must have seen something we obviously haven't." Kouka stated calmly, his eyes hardened from grief and the possibility of more.**_

"_**Please, Ivory's just thirteen and not much of a threat to a TR Executive yet. What's got Sabrina scared?" Corey asked with annoyance.**_

"_**I don't know, but she's more concerned than scared – then again, that's my guess. It's not easy getting through those emotions of hers," Kouka admitted.**_

"_**Well, whatever it is, we're fine, Ivory's fine, Sabrina wasn't in a hurry to really look into it so why should we?" Misty asked not unkindly, they couldn't be wasting time over something futile or unnecessary.**_

"_**She said it was just a warning, just in case."**_

"_**Then if something does happen, what're we supposed to do?" Corey asked, Kouka's eyes darkened.**_

"_**Sabrina said she hoped we would have to do nothing."**_

_Back to the present _

"Hey, erm, Ivory, is there something about you we should know about?"

"Like what?" Ivory asked carelessly, her façade becoming genuine and suddenly her form melted away from the icy female that confronted Gizelle and into the puddle of a pure thirteen-year-old.

"Well, troubles I guess. What bothers you?" Misty asked curiously, Ivory looked up in thought for a second.

"_Her_," Ivory responded without much pondering.

"I found that out on my own, is it because she too likes Ryuu?" Misty asked, Ivory's face blushed bright crimson when she turned to peer at Misty; shocked.

"W-What? I don't like Ryuu!" Without her knowing, Ivory fully admitted otherwise and Misty instantly wished she could travel through time. Travel back when she was a little younger than she was now, back when she first met Ash and trekked from city to town to city. All the while, trying to figure out her own feelings for the obnoxious future Pokemon Champion.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, but it was always painfully obvious." Misty claimed, this only made the rest of Ivory's skin break out.

"Oh, great, I was obvious _before_ I started liking him." Ivory groaned, Misty gave a heartfelt laugh. Ivory's heart felt lighter with the sound of something truly joyful.

"I find it funny you're admitting it so willingly, it took me years to summon the courage to tell Ash I loved him." Misty stated, her voice growing dimmer with every word. Ivory's heart felt heavy again.

"How did he take it?" Ivory was expecting the worst – that Ash didn't love her back. That he had found some other girl he much rather share his life with than the one he accepted as a best friend.

"He didn't, by the time I had any guts he had disappeared." Misty answered sadly, Ivory felt relieved, it wasn't as bad as she thought.

"He'll come back, in fact, I'm going to look for him and BRING him back for you, and Kanto." Ivory stated.

"Don't Ivory, because if you do, it'll mean your powerful." Misty stated.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Powerful people…they go and stay gone." Ivory knew she would have to be stronger with her words. The harsh winds rattled the planks and windows around them. It startled Ivory somewhat. Misty grinned softly.

"It's only the wind, it's a sign of an early winter." Misty explained, Ivory nodded then swiftly reversed back to her original thoughts.

"He _will_ come back Misty, whether I bring him back or not." Ivory's words didn't seem to convince Misty, but the appearance of a hopeful glimmer in her aquatic eyes was enough for the moment.

"We just need to get rid of Team Rocket, _that's all we have to do_, then he'll come back." Ivory added, Misty sighed then stood back up.

"Lunch will be ready soon, walk about okay, it helps with nerves." Misty suggested, referring to that night's raid they were going to perform at the Power Plant.

Kouka saw to it to make all plans final, he said that nothing should go with uncertainty that everyone had to know what to do and expect the unexpected. As Misty left, Ivory felt she was right, just then feeling the squirming jitters in her stomach.

She recalled her incident with Ryuu and herself as false agents. It was nerve-racking, painfully terrifying and for as long as she lived, Ivory prayed she would never feel like that again. Yet, she soon realized in order to be a trainer un-allied with TR at this point in time, it was inevitable to wind back up in the same position again. This time, Ivory believed she could do it – her confidence with her stronger pokemon and personal training would see to it.

Ivory unsnapped Aldara's ball from her belt, from beneath her dark red sweater she acquired from Misty. She harpy's eyes snapped open and peered up at her warily, as if expecting Ivory to _change._

Ivory and Aldara continued this stare-down till finally Ivory gave a heavy exhale.

_Someday. We'll both trust me._

* * *

Ivory came to a halt beside the pool, she opened her poke'balls, releasing Kameko, Aldara, Panther and Chandra. Haunter hovered harmlessly along the ceiling many feet above them. Chandra shyly rose to join him.

"_Wartortle!"_ Kameko nudged Aldara, knowing her better enough to dare make such a move on the edgy bird. Panther backed away when he saw Aldara's eyes twitch.

"Just take a breather for now guys, loosen up for tonight y'know. Snoozing is _not_ loosening up Aldara," Ivory said firmly as she noticed Aldara's eyes begin to close. The harpy gave a ruffled glare before opening her wings and with one stroke, lifted herself from the ground then soared across the pool. She took one of the rectangular platforms conveniently stowed there as her perch.

She cuddled up into a feathery, large ball and placed her head under a wing.

Ivory officially abandoned the thought of getting her to fly around the room for a bit.

"I want to scrub your shell at some point today Kameko, but before that, go ahead and take a swim. Panther, remind me to teach you how to swim sometime kay?" Panther appeared ecstatic over it.

A half an hour later, Ivory left her pokemon and wandered around the gym for some time alone. It was careless to leave whatever protection behind her, since there could be an attack at any moment as proven by her arrival yesterday.

She had to have some alone time to herself, except that wasn't possible…

Ivory's dark trainers softly padded through the hallways, the flooring smooth and the empty tanks of water on either side of her remained oblivious of her presence. Ivory lost all human feeling; it was surreal in that silence.

Ivory took a seat against one of the tanks and leaned the back of her head against the cool glass. She closed her eyes and without realizing it, her mind began to drift away.

* * *

_She was walking down a silver hallway; similar to the one Ryuu led her through in their false TR incident. Except she suspected no hidden cameras, nor did she receive any strange shivers one got from a watchful eye from some dark corner._

_When Ivory pivoted slightly on her right foot, she found that those silver walls were in fact mirrors. _

_Her reflection looked back at her, appearing as lost and confused as she currently way. The girl was foreign to Ivory; the last time she had looked in the mirror was forever ago._

_Ivory's reflection was lean and dressed in a black sweatshirt and sweatpants, the shoes dark and skin somewhat pale. Her eyes were in disarray, as if unsure of where she should go, the bottomless blues held so many secrets – they looked ready to bulge from their sockets, and it appeared her reflection thought they would, as she suddenly appeared worried. Yet, Ivory personally knew that wasn't the case._

_ It was a mental dilemma that was causing the concern. The real Ivory brushed her gray hair back, the reflection doing the same, sending a tingly wave down to the end a little past her shoulders._

_Ivory's heart jumped when a soft giggle sounded on her other side. She jerked to look, only to find nothing to be frightened of. It was she, except younger. It was the Ivory Koguu that had only just began her journey. She wasn't any taller than the current Ivory Koguu, no, Ivory was still a small girl for her age._

_ The twelve-year-old Ivory glanced at her thirteen-year-old counterpart, the twin braids bouncing on her shoulders with every movement, her eyes a brilliant sky blue. She wore what the modern Ivory would never have thought of trying on again – the old pair of black work jeans with a black jacket over a blue tube top. She couldn't believe Dale had actually let her leave with only that on. With a black choker nonetheless! _

_Nostalgia hit her hard when she spotted that multi-pocket gray emo bag. She missed that thing; it was Grandfather Pryce's idea of a wise traveling pack. Seeing as so many things could be carried and stored in it._

_The younger Ivory adjusted her black bandanna, apparently bored out of her wits. Then she opened her mouth and began talking (or scolding by the looks of her agitated expression) to her older version. Yet she gave out no noise._

_Ivory watched without distraction as the younger Ivory kept up her speech, as though she thought she was getting something through the glass and into the real Ivory's ears. Ivory shook her head, trying to clear up she couldn't hear. Yet the younger one persisted and didn't even acknowledge the shake._

_A knock on the other mirror brought Ivory back to her modern reflection. The reflecting Ivory had a hand on a hip, the other one returning to her side. Then she began talking too without sound, neither one appeared to know the live Ivory wasn't getting any of it._

"_I-ah…what…?" Ivory brought a hand to her throat, worry striking every nerve of her body. Her voice was restricting; she could hardly speak her mind._

…_**speakher mind.**_

_That was it, she was starting to lose control! Ivory found it harder to breathe with that realization. She couldn't control it, only fight it…_

_Then someone snickered, someone sinister. Someone who skulked through these mirrors, rendering their voiceboxes helpless. Ivory felt a shiver of fear creep up her spine. The snickers continued._

"_Who…ther…?" Ivory brought her hand down, the color leaving her face fast. Ivory looked from the modern Ivory, to the young one. Both were now as surprised and scared looking as she was, the twelve-year-old was fidgeting on her toes, something the current Ivory had grown out of._

_The hallway ahead suddenly dimmed, leaving Ivory alone with her two reflections._

_Steps were heard, getting louder and louder. Ivory's breathing hitched and then the lights flickered back on. _

_What caught her eye made her jump back several feet, her two reflections following within the mirrors lined against the wall._

_In front of her, naught but ten feet stood someone else. Yet it appeared to be in a mirror too, but then again, it wasn't. _

_It wasn't Ivory, or at least not the Ivory she knew. _

_Instead of gray, the hair was midnight blue and it had a wispy texture to it. The skin was as pale as hers was, except a little fairer from delight. The glee in the dark Ivory's smile was wicked. Her eyes weren't blue, well; they were practically white with a small azure hue. The pupils and rims of her irises very black._

_She was clothed in a simple, dark blue fabric that fogged away at the hem._

"_Who…ar…?" Ivory grasped her head as a painful tremor slid through her cranium._

**'Not here…'**

_Ivory gasped as she blinked then blinked again. Every time she tried to keep her eyes shut, because every time she blinked and reopened her eyes, she found the sinister counterpart closer._

_When Ivory was sure they practically touching each other's noses, she went to open her eyes…_

_**Boo.**_

* * *

Ivory woke with a start against the fish tanks, her form shaking and beads of sweat sliding down her face.

_It was just a dream, just a dream…_ She tried to convince herself.

"If only it were…" she gulped. It was beginning to scare her, how for so well she had hidden that part of herself away and it was now clawing itself back out. Slowly torturing her in the process.

_Sabrina, Aldara…help…_

* * *

Kouka, Corey, Casey and Gizelle sat in the nicely repaired living room. While Casey and Gizelle shared a sofa (Casey giving odd, disgusted looks towards Gizelle), Kouka and Corey claimed the armchairs. Kouka's arms were folded, Corey had his ankles crossed and his hands behind his head, Casey had an elbow propped up on the sofa's right arm and Gizelle clenched her hands together in her stiff lap.

"Where's Ivory-chan?" Casey asked, hoping for a comfortable chat until their two missing raid members arrived.

"Misty said she was in the gym arena, they'll be here in a moment." Kouka answered, surprisingly soft but firm. Corey's eyes were closed, only opening when they heard a group of footsteps clopping down the hallway.

They all shifted their positions to peer back at said hallway, where Misty rounded the corner with Ivory's pokemon in tow.

"Where's the trainer?" Corey asked with a joshing smile. Misty gave a grim look with tight lips. The whole group looked at each other.

"She wasn't with her pokemon?" Casey asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, they were alone." Misty answered, cradling the full-grown Panther; he didn't seem very comfortable in someone else's arms at this point in his young adult age. Kameko stood at Misty's feet, appeared concerned and looking around eagerly. Aldara sat behind them, not really caring.

"What about Haunter and her ghastley?" Kouka asked.

"I asked if they would look for her, they left but hadn't come back yet." Misty said, Gizelle huffed.

"Obviously," she spoke, Misty stifled an annoyed sigh.

"Well, unless she was dumb enough to leave the gym, we can be assured she somewhere in the gym – she'll be fine." Corey reassured, but Misty thought otherwise.

"It's taking Haunter and Chandra a long time, maybe they can't find her." Misty stated.

"There's no where in this gym that Ghost pokemon can't search Mist, maybe-what?" Corey looked at Kouka, who appeared suddenly understanding something. He leaped to his feet in seconds and looked at Misty with the look of terror.

"That wasn't just any random raid Misty," Kouka spoke, Misty almost dropped Panther.

"You don't think-"

"I don't _think,_ I _know_ that attack – oh! Bastards! We've gotta find Ivory right now!" Kouka growled, the command was so earth-shaking it got the other three to their feet.

"Split up into pairs, Corey you're with Casey. Gizelle you're with Misty – I'm heading to contact David and Jasper, perhaps Surge. Find Ivory and keep as quiet as possible – I fear the worst."

"Which is?" Corey asked as he jumped to Casey's side. Misty's eyes widened with fright.

"An ambush."

* * *

"Um…can't we settle this over a game of cards or something? Oh, wait, I'd lose…see, I've never been really good at cards. So let's play that instead, see my reasoning? It's much less violent! Not that I'm saying papercuts aren't life-threatening…wait, they're not." Ivory frantically raced through ideas trying to stall time as her back hit the back of the gym.

Why did she come outside? Only the lord above knows.

"We didn't come here to hear you talk to yourself kid!" A grunt snarled, raising a gun carelessly against his shoulder and aimed at her.

"Oh please, you haven't even heard half of it-" The ten or so armed Rockets cocked their weapons.

"The boss says not to kill you, but as long as we have you alive, he says he doesn't care how we _capture_ you." The head Grunt grunted, spitting a wad of saliva at her feet.

"I swear, that is so _disgusting_!" Ivory cried, heart hammering out her eardrums.

"I say we shoot her just a little, just to knock of a piece of flesh or two…"

"No, Boss just got new carpet I think…"

"You're kidding, who said?"

"Um, well, we were talking today and that got around-"

"Fine, we'll clean her up before we drag her to him, it's a good hour's flight from here to Indigo Plateau anyway."

Ivory couldn't tell which was more shocking; the fact that how the Rockets were about to treat her or how more concerned they seemed to be about Giovanni's carpet. She slowly began to inch along the wall, hoping to come to the doors only a foot away as the Rockets bickered among themselves.

"You fools! You're so incompetent!" Now they were yelling, but the major distraction didn't make Ivory go any faster. She soon hit the door and went to open it.

Except the door opened itself when she grasped the handle.

"Here, you may need this." Someone said, the owner of the voice stuck a sleek black pistol out at her end first.

"Um, thanks, but I don't know how to shoot it-who are you?" Ivory forgot about the fighting Grunts and eyed the crack in the door hard to find the person on the other side with auburn hair and amber eyes. He appeared to smile as she took it.

"The safety's off, just pull the trigger when you need to shoot." He said, Ivory gave him a 'are-you-stupid' look.

"Why can't I just come in?" she asked hotly.

"You might not want to,"

"Why not?"

"Well, unless you have a plan to take on twenty more Rocket Agents-"

"_Twenty-_"

"Shh!"

"Like they can hear me," Ivory muttered sarcastically as the roar of the quarrel got louder.

"You're special," the auburn-haired boy said, he didn't sound more than fourteen years of age.

"Why are they he-"

"Ivory!" Ivory jerked around and so did the fighting Rockets. It was Misty, with Ivory's pokemon and a few of her own; a breathless Gizelle was beside her.

"What the hell! _Get her!_" the head Grunt cried, the door promptly shut and Ivory bolted for Misty and her group.

"Water Gun 'em Kameko!" Ivory cried, hysterics rising in her throat. One moment she was having a mental breakdown, then she goes out for a few seconds only to be surrounded by Team Rocket, lastly this group shows up to save her and hopefully not in vain.

"_Wartortleeee!"_ Kameko gurgled as she swelled then launched a powerful blast of H20 at the pursuing Rockets.

"Why are they here – _again_?" Ivory questioned as she came to a halt in front of Misty.

"I'm not sure! I think Kouka knows what's going on though!" Misty answered.

"Where is he – oof! Hello?" Ivory greeted as Panther jumped into her arms. The Water Gun shot Team Rocket off their feet and was currently being pounded into very soggy grass behind Ivory.

"In the Back Room, he's trying to reach Jasper and them!" Misty claimed as Ivory returned Panther.

"Where's Aldara and Chandra and Haunter?" Ivory asked, Misty groaned.

"I'll tell you along the way! We've gotta get to Kouka-"

"What about Corey and Casey?"

"They're looking for you two, but I'm sure we'll crash into them-"

"No, I think they're in trouble!" Ivory exclaimed, Misty's eyes widened again.

"There's more inside isn't there?" Misty looked about ready to explode within a second after stating this.

"I WILL NOT HAVE MY GYM BECOME A PAWN IN TEAM ROCKET'S HANDS! C'MON OUT STARMIE! STARYU!" Misty was on a rampage, so Ivory, Gizelle and Kameko (who had just then stopped her attack abruptly from Misty's shouts) wisely took a step back.

Team Rocket was still struggling to get to their feet.

"Tackle that door down now!" Misty ordered, the two Starfish pokemon flew like shurikens at the door that Ivory had originally been standing besides.

"No-don't!" Ivory cried, afraid the boy was still there, but it was too late as the two pokemon rammed the double doors down and hurtled through. The group heard loud cries of agony and pain as the pokemon continued their twirling vortexes.

The double doors had been knocked off their hinges and lay over two crumpled bodies. Misty ran over them, not caring who was beneath them with Gizelle right behind her. Ivory followed with Kameko on her back.

"So help me this gym belongs to ME! I will not let it be TAKEN OVER by a bunch of IDIOTS!" Misty practically shrieked as she broke into a mad sprint. Gizelle, whom was already out of breath, didn't bother picking up her pace. Ivory zigzagged through the broken bodies of agents strewn over the hallway from Starmie and Staryu's frenzy.

"I think she's lost it," Gizelle moaned as Ivory caught up with her.

"I couldn't agree more, now, if you wouldn't mind, pick up the pace or you'll be left behind." Ivory replied casually before she went into a jog. Gizelle growled as she too jogged.

"Corey! I found Ivory!" They heard Misty shout after they passed through a hallway of tanks. Corey and Casey were at the end, shouting out commands to their pokemon.

"Shut it Misty! They're here for her!" Corey yelled back, Ivory stopped dead in her tracks, making Gizelle crash into her. Ivory lost balance and tipped forward. Kameko managed to squeeze herself out from between Ivory's back and Gizelle before Ivory caught herself with her arms.

Only Gizelle didn't stop there, she landed into Ivory and her muscles gave out. Ivory's face met the floor in one second flat.

"_Gurf! _Get _off!_" Ivory snarled, Gizelle darted off of her.

"Blood!" Gizelle cried as Ivory hoisted herself up. A stream of said liquid flowed freely from her nose.

"Chill! It's mine! I think you broke it," Ivory said, wanting to cry as she tapped her nose, only to receive a spiral of white-hot agony shoot through her face.

"Ugh!"

"Hurry! Ivory are you okay?!" It was Casey who grasped Ivory's arm, with her strength alone she managed to pull Ivory forward. "C'mon Gizelle! Misty!" Casey stopped for a moment, with Ivory in her grasp holding her nose.

Casey led Ivory blindly (her eyes clasped tightly shut from the pain and the loss of blood made her lightheaded), she could vaguely hear Gizelle's shiny shoes and Kameko's clawed paws running after them.

"_Haunter!"_ Ivory felt relieved to know he was all right, but regretted feeling that way when she felt said pokemon's hand squeeze her nose through the hand she covered it with.

"Darn't! _That hurt!_" Ivory growled, opening her eyes to see the Ghost laughing. "Where's Chandra?"

He stopped laughing and pointed behind him.

"Make sure no one follows us and help Corey and Misty please!" Ivory shouted, Haunter sighed then nodded. Casey resumed her role as guide and hurried onwards after Haunter disappeared. As they continued walking, which quickly picked up into a fast jog, Ivory absently searched for auburn hair.

When they stopped, Ivory blinked. Casey had pulled away a nicely disguised piece of wallpaper to reveal a security pad there. She jabbed in some numbers then a laser shot at her eye; scanning it.

The word 'CONFIRMED' flashed across its screen and a door-sized piece of wallpaper shoved itself aside.

Revealing the Back Room.


	21. Crack

**Chapter Twenty-One --- Crack**

"_Hurry!_" It was Kouka, he urged them into the Back Room and the door quickly shut itself. Ivory, Kameko, Gizelle and Casey followed Kouka through the short, narrow hallway and into a small, office cube of a room. There were two computer screens, one on either side of the entrance and below it, multiple buttons, and a keyboard for each, a microphone, etc.

Kouka took the left flexible, rolling chair and hit 'Enter' on the keyboard. Almost instantly four different screen shots appeared on the above computer screen.

It turned out, that they were what the hidden video cameras were seeing. There were Rockets all over, either unconscious or dead Ivory couldn't tell. One had Corey and another Misty fighting vigorously. To Ivory, it looked as if there were two Rockets that were not as easily knocked down like the rest.

Ivory suspected those two to be Executives. Not only did they battle with strong pokemon like Golbat and Houndoom, but also their flashy red capes were sure symbols of their higher rank among the other Rockets.

The last video camera held what lie beyond the front of the gym doors.

"Don't you have any around the rest of the gym? For all we know-" Kouka jabbed a thumb behind him and the four looked to his right, which they all thought was a blank, black wall. Turns out, when about fifty screens flashed on said wall, that they did, in fact, have _a lot_ of cameras. The opposite computer screen was kept blank though.

"They're after you Ivory," Kouka stated gruffly. Ivory winced as she accidentally gripped her nose too hard.

"Really? I wasn't aware," she retorted, equally as gruff. He turned around and eyed her.

"Did you break your nose?"

"Is it not apparent that I probably did?" Ivory growled as a stream of blood flowed onto her fingers.

"Well, let's clean it up – Casey, fetch the First Aid." Kouka ordered, Casey dove under the desk below the opposite computer and hauled out a large, white box with the traditional Red Cross on it. She went to hand it to Kouka.

"No, let Gizelle do it. I'm still trying to get a hold of Surge," Kouka said as he placed a pair of headphones over his ears and turned on the communication line. Casey reluctantly handed Gizelle the box, which she took just as hesitantly. Ivory stifled a snarl.

That girl was not _touching_ her nose!

"Let's just get it over with," Gizelle said unhappily as she sat the box on the other rolling chair and rummaged through it. She pulled out a few wipes, cotton swabs and what looked like a nose cast.

Not even Casey appeared she could hold back her laughter at the thought of Ivory having to don a nose cast.

Both Gizelle and Ivory peered at Kouka, whose back was to them. Obviously not eager to save Ivory from being mended by her archrival and Gizelle from having to do the mending of some brat's seemingly broken nose.

"C'mon…" Casey and Kameko watched (both amused and concerned) as Gizelle – surprisingly – worked on Ivory's face.

"It's definitely broken, but it's only a tiny snap," whether this was suppose to reassure any of them, no one knew because it really didn't have that kind of effect.

"I still have to wear that thing?" Ivory growled as she looked at the nose cast that Gizelle had just then picked up.

"Yes, hold still, I need to move it back in place." Now that caught Ivory's attention as Gizelle's empty hand rose to try and grasp her nose. Now that would be painful and Ivory didn't have it.

"Whoa! What are you doing?" Ivory cried as she backed into Kouka. He reeled forward.

"What are you two _doing?_ Stop it!" Kouka raised his voice for the first time in Ivory's presence, thoroughly shocking her. Giving Gizelle the chance to snatch her nose and give her wrist a jerk.

* * *

"_YEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAA!"_ Corey, Misty, all the pokemon and even the Team Rocket executives peered around in a confused manner.

Corey and Misty (although in different hallways), exchanged expressions of surprise and worry as they realized who it might have been that screamed.

_Did they get her? _Their thoughts strayed off, wondering about those that were with her. Corey and Misty gazed back at their opponents, with their eyes glazed over with unwonted loathing.

"Why are you here?" Corey snarled, signaling to his rhydon to prepare for an attack. The ground type gave a low, earth-rattling growl as it stomped the ground with one of his paws.

The female Executive – known as Reba, or Executive Holhouse sneered, though her mind whispered to her nervously.

"Why, to fetch little Ivory. Didn't y'all have that already figured out?" she asked in a light Southern accent. Her wispy red hair spiraling down her back and spilling over the pads of the cape in waves. Her violet eyes gleaming mischievously.

Corey snarled.

* * *

Ivory tried her hardest not to cry, but the urge receded after a few seconds, she didn't even bother swiping away Gizelle as she placed the cast on.

"Just for a day, I swear." Gizelle said calmly, Ivory glared at her.

"Kouka, how did they know Ivory-chan was here?" Casey asked, breaking the moment's silence.

"Shouldn't you know this time revolves around advanced technology? Especially since Team Rocket has most of it? My guess is that while we were fighting – remember that Rocket you attacked trying to get into our walls Ivory? – yeah, I think that guy managed to get something in there…" Kouka explained. Ivory snarled, Casey stifled her giggles as her nose moved the cast, reminding everyone there she had it on. Even Kouka turned around to not display the grin on his face.

"_We know that, tell us __**why**__."_ They all became serious at once as they all stared up at the screen with Corey and Executive Holhouse in it.

The female Rocket looked up at the camera, Kouka hissed.

"How does she know where our camera is?" Kouka glared at her.

"_Someone special just wants to see her is all,"_She replied, their eyes narrowed and Corey tensed as Executive Holhouse reached for a poke'ball.

Ivory's hands clenched onto the other seat before jetting out of the Back Room.

"Ivory! Where are you going!" someone shouted after her, but Ivory didn't notice. She threw open the secret door and with Kameko right on her heels, they ran down the halls.

_Please don't be what I think it is!_ Ivory heard others run after her, whether it was Casey and co. or other agents, she didn't turn around to find out. She kept running down the hall until it bent. There, she discovered Misty and her opponent.

The male executive, a gruesome figure with half his face scarred and his twisted grin in a crooked, upward line. One of his eyes were closed, why it was so was probably due to the smooth, clean slash going through the lid.

He held a jagged, foot-long dagger.

"Cloyster! Withdraw!" Misty summoned the giant bivalve pokemon smiled wickedly as it closed up in front of its trainer. It's large (not to forget incredibly hard) shell not only blocked the mad man's path, but thoroughly protected Misty and Ivory.

"Does it know Protect?" Ivory asked cautiously, Misty jumped anyhow and turned on Ivory swiftly.

"Don't _do_ that!" Misty reprimanded, Ivory sweat-dropped.

"Sorry!"

A loud voice (they both realized it was Corey's voice roaring out of the male's ear piece – must've been mostly deaf too) came ringing through the halls.

"_What does Giovanni want with Ivory?"_ Ivory gulped, afraid of the answer. Misty noticed how deathly pale she had just gone.

"_Oh, sharp mind boy, thinking it was Sir Giovanni, but dear me, all he wants is to meet his new stepdaughter!"_

_Crack!_ Ivory's reflection flawed.

They heard Corey's gasp through the loud ear piece, Misty looked taken back, Ivory's eyes bulged from their sockets and not far behind them in the Back Room stood Gizelle and Kouka, both transfixed to the screens in front of them. Behind Misty and Ivory, was Casey, whose jaw had dropped to the ground.

"_Stepdaughter?!_" Ivory snarled as the male executive stated:

"That's right, her mother's _Lady_ Giovanni now…_hehe…_"

Ivory went silent for a moment before shifting her face only slightly to show Misty one _deadly_ eye.

"Shut him up _please_," Misty obediently complied as she ordered Cloyster into a Tackle the man.

With a heave, the bivalve pokemon shot through the space between it and the Rocket (the spikes scraping the walls in the progress) and bashed him unconscious.

"I'm _not_ here to hear about my _whore of a mother_." Ivory nearly whispered.

"Ivory…" Misty muttered as she peered at Ivory woefully, at a loss of words. Ivory shook her head, telling her not to worry over it. Misty returned Cloyster and Ivory stepped forward and yanked the ear piece out of the Rocket's ear. She then spoke into it.

"What does Team Rocket plan on doing if they take over the whole world?" Ivory asked, Misty found this a sort of random question. But one worth asking. Everything waited; Kouka was at the edge of his chair.

Executive Holhouse chuckled. Running her fingers through her hair.

"Simple, the world will forever be ours and not only that, but Sweetheart, we have the _whole_ galaxy to scour! With all earthly resources! The Milky Way's the limit!" Executive Holhouse exclaimed through the ear piece. Ivory had to be careful not to crush it out of ire.

"I will _not_ let that _ever_ happen."

A loud noise made Ivory, Kameko, Misty and Casey jump. The ear piece went skidding across the floor.

"_We have company Ivory!"_ Executive Holhouse cried out happily.

* * *

Outside, a large helicopter with no label (but it was a TR brand with its two pairs of main rotor blades) hovered over the Cerulean Gym. A teenage boy with vivid magenta hair and neon green eyes hung out of it, staring stoically below at the TR troops slowly approaching it.

* * *

**A/N:**

_Just so y'all know, that crack in the reflection was from Ivory's mental capacity (just in case you didn't get that), read the last chapter a couple of times and you might get it - hopefully! I'm listening to _**Find the Way **_by Nakashima Mika, how suiting..._

_Happy Thanksgiving everyone! _ _I'm so excited, I got a job (finally) so I'll have $ for X-mas shopping this year woot!_


	22. Cost

**Chapter Twenty-Two --- Cost **

Kouka banged the Back Room door aside.

"WE'RE SURROUNDED!!" Kouka yelled, everyone started.

"Yeah, I think the sound of a hovercraft clarified that," Ivory stated sarcastically. Executive Holhouse sneered.

"_What, not worried l'il Ivory?"_ the Executive asked, Corey felt beads of sweat run down the side of his face. They were surrounded by what could be thousands with how Kouka had practically screamed. There had to be a lot, otherwise Kouka wouldn't have been so audible.

Ivory peered at the earpiece now lying on the floor several feet away. Her face darkened and a tint of red flashed through her blue eyes. She blinked rapidly, then rubbed her temples.

"What's wrong Ivory?" Misty asked, sounding worried and looked even more so since they received the news of her traitorous mother.

"A lot of things," Ivory inhaled a shuddering breath before releasing it calmly. She straightened herself.

"We best meet our visitors, it's rude to keep them waiting." Ivory stated. Misty looked taken back.

"Ivor-"

"Don't worry Misty, it's their funeral – not ours." Ivory concluded, giving Misty no indication of fruitful meaning to her words.

Corey said something that reeled in their attention.

"_There sure is a lot of effort being put into capturing a single girl, what gives?"_

Misty, Ivory and Casey exchanged looks.

"_Our mission was to seize Ivory Koguu AND to eliminate the gym and all those within it,"_

"You're a bunch of heartless _pricks!_" Casey exclaimed.

"I agree, but I won't let that happen and if Ash knew about this, he wouldn't either." Ivory claimed with utmost confidence.

Misty's eyes hardened with a touch of sorrow, she shook it away and looked around.

"What should we do Misty?" Casey asked, almost nervously as she looked up at the older trainer.

"_Here's my advice Ivory, if you evade capture, travel to Orre."_ Ivory stared at the earpiece, she narrowed her eyes.

"Why would I do that?" On the other end, Executive Holhouse shrugged.

"_Just thought you were searchin' for a hint,"_ Almost instantly Corey intruded. Ivory hears him order Rhydon to further their paused battle.

"C'mon!" Misty hissed as she ran through a hallway, it too strewn with Grunt bodies. Ivory still couldn't find the boy with auburn hair.

"What are we doing?" Ivory asked as she and Casey followed the redhead.

"We're gonna battle."

"Are you crazy?"

"Without a _plan_! That's not like you at all!" Casey cried, Kameko grunted, catching Ivory's ear.

"You did great Kameko! You should return-"

"_Wartortle!_" Kameko shook her head.

"Fine."

"I'm doing it the way Ash would do it!" Misty stated, the three behind her shared a look that spoke "how did he become champion then?"

"Then let's hope Lady Luck's on our side today!" Casey shouted with a bright smile, Misty nodded.

"Like how she was always there for Ash," Misty replied, Ivory couldn't but think how Misty WAS Ash's Lady Luck.

They burst through a pair of doors (they were actually the entrance of the Cerulean Gym) and indeed met tens of Team Rocket Agents joined together outside the building. Above them was the helicopter they had heard from inside.

Everything was still for a moment.

…

… …

The silence broke from the laughter emitted from the Rockets around them.

Ivory _burned_ red.

"We could boil eggs on your face Ivory-chan," Casey teased through her own muffled laughter. Misty didn't appear effected by the roar of mockery.

_Stupid nose cast…stupid Gizelle who made me fall and break my nose…stupid Gizelle for PUTTING it on my nose… _

Eventually, through the laughter, Kouka, Gizelle and Corey came running out of the gym as well and met the strange sight.

"Umm…" Corey looked at the threesome to get an answer but immediately clamped his hand over his mouth to refrain from laughing out loud.

"Go ahead and laugh Corey! But when this is over everyone is going to PAY!" Ivory shouted at him, somehow her voice carried over the laughter and everything died (except for the helicopter of course). The Rockets glared at the small group, the small group glared back. Ivory could still pinpoint snickers from the Rockets. She could suppose it must've been humorous seeing some weird girl trying to glare and keep dignity doing so with such a thing on her face.

Ivory then took the moment to look up at the hovering craft; she spotted the magenta-haired creature staring down at her emotionlessly.

_You again_, flashbacks of the bizarre boy from Lavender Town raced in front of her eyes. Ivory's blue orbs narrowed.

_What do you want? _She never thought about how he came into the world or what he was, but she would most certainly learn that – but not now.

The neon pools of the boy continued to look down on her without blinking or without being distracted by all the racket.

Ivory hardly heard Corey stating Executive Holhouse was no where to be seen. Yet Kouka's most recent outburst brought her down to earth.

_I'm getting too spacy!_ Ivory mentally scolded herself.

"I've managed to contact the base," Kouka said, Ivory could only suppose that was where she had been with Jasper and David a while back.

"And?" Misty pressed.

"Let's just hope they get here in time, Jasper says he's got a plan," Kouka stated as if he hardly believed it himself. Ivory looked from her small group to supposedly hundreds of Rockets around us. Another executive stood out of the bunch with his fiery red cape.

"Greetings," he said, his hair brown and spiked back and his eyes a cold black. Ivory heard Misty snarl 'Tyson'. "Let's cut to the chase shall we? Hand over the girl-" he pointed at Ivory "-and we'll spare the rest of you."

Everyone in the group (even Gizelle) grunted in disbelief.

"We're not giving you _anybody_ without a fight," Corey growled.

"That's right! You want Ivory! You'll have to deal with us!" Casey cried, this made the Rockets snicker, even Tyson was very amused.

"Pretty selfless words, but they won't save you. Ivory Koguu," Executive Tyson shot her a look. "You gave us the slip at Mt. Moon, but if it weren't for the lack of a body to confirm your passing, we knew you were still alive – for that, Sir Giovanni is eternally grateful. We've been spending numerous hours searching for your whereabouts. You just can't stay in one place for long can you?"

"Why does Giovanni want to see _me_ so bad? I have no blessings fit for a bastard OR his new wife." Ivory stated, raising a brow. Executive Tyson 'tsked'.

"Language, he would not approve." Ex. Tyson said with a sadistic grin.

"He's not my father, I have no reason to care!" Ivory practically yelled, not liking the direction they were going – but they were stalling, and they needed every ounce of time they could get.

"But he IS your step_father_!" Ex. Tyson shouted as the hovercraft's blades somehow got louder. The wind picked up and whisked large dust devils around them. Everyone wrapped their faces in their arms as the helicopter attempted to land.

"He's not going to land that thing _here_ is he?!" Misty cried through the dirt whirling through her hair. Casey coughed.

"He's CRAZY!" Corey yelled as the group backed away towards the gym as the rotor blades sounded too close for comfort. The Rockets had the same idea and many of them tripped as they attempted to back up.

The magenta-haired boy jumped off the helicopter before it had the chance to land. Then a lilac color radiated from the heavy stainless steel. What the light was, no one really knew (nor could anyone really see anyway), but it was probably what lifted the hovercraft up and away in the darkening clouds above.

The wind died abruptly and the magenta-haired boy stood in the midst of them all.

Ex. Tyson seemed as surprised as everyone else.

"What's wrong Sir? Where'd the helicopter go?" Everyone else seemed to have been thinking the same thing.

"**Do not concern yourself Executive,"** It took Ivory (and everyone else) to realize it was the boy who had spoken – though, his lips hadn't moved. It reminded Ivory of Sabrina…

"_**Indeed, I am a Psychic."**_ Ivory started, now he was speaking telepathically.

"He's a Psychic," Misty stated quietly, her eyes never leaving the boy's face. No one bothered to ask how she knew that, it seemed everyone came upon that fact. Even though he bore the bold, red 'R', most of the Rockets seemed shocked about it too.

_Why are you here?_ Ivory asked, tension slowly leaving her muscles. Why did she feel secure (more so than around Ryuu) around him? He hadn't proved he was harmless OR kind. Yet, he hadn't shown any sign of cruelty or wickedness.

He was an enigma.

He was more baffling than Ryuu.

Ivory just then discovered she hated mysteries.

In her mind, she could _hear_ the boy smirking.

"_**I am on my mission."**_

_Wow, that tells me SO much._

"_**One day that tongue will be your demise."**_

_Fascinating, I will be going down my own way then._

The boy remained nonchalant throughout this whole conversation, but apparently Ivory wasn't.

"Um…Ivory? Are you all right?" Casey asked, Ivory jerked her head towards her.

"Ssh! We're talking!" Ivory said before turning back to the boy.

"Told you," Gizelle growled.

"How was I suppose to know?" Casey snapped. Corey sighed.

"Psychics,"

"_**The plan will succeed, but with a price."**_

_You're a fortuneteller now? What price?_

He actually sounded sympathetic.

"_**You cannot avoid it even if I told you."**_

_Why can't people like you make things less complicated?_

"_**It is in our Mystery Manual to remain mysterious."**_

_Haha, so funny!_

"I'm sorry Sir! But we have a job to do!" Ex. Tyson shouted, he had a throbbing vein that probably meant he had been standing aside watching for a good amount of time. The clouds above appeared shaky with their weight.

"_**I must leave you now,"**_ Ivory looked at him with slight fear, she didn't want the safety he provided to leave.

"No, don't-" Kouka, Misty, Corey, Casey, Gizelle and Kameko all looked at Ivory with surprise as she spoke out (to them randomly). The boy blinked for the first time and seemed weary for a moment.

"_**I can suppress her for only a while,"**_

Ivory stared at him. He stared back.

"Good luck," 

_Wait!_ "What's your name?" Ivory asked, not caring she had taken the conversation aloud. The boy actually gave a soft smirk.

"_**I am called M3,"**_ He responded telepathically. Maybe he didn't want everyone else to hear. With that however, he glowed white and with a small _Pop!_ he teleported.

_Can Sabrina do that…?_ Ivory thought a second after, could really experienced Psychics just vanish like Psychic pokemon can?

"This is your final warning!" Ex. Tyson shouted, the first to break out of the silence. Everyone instantly zoomed back in to reality. Ivory frowned, making Ex. Tyson struggle for a straight face.

"We're not giving her up!" Kouka shouted, readying six (another six in his other hand) poke'balls in his right hand. The rest were preparing as well, the Rockets weren't reaching for poke'balls however.

"That's unfair! Make this a true pokemon battle you craven coward!" Misty shouted, fear tracing over her aquatic eyes. Fear struck their hearts and paralyzed them on the spot.

_What do we do?_ The question ran through their minds several times within seconds as the Rockets drew black guns, shiny rifles, pistols, revolvers, anything from bayonets to machine guns were hoisted out of trucks behind the Rockets the group hadn't noticed before.

_If it comes to close combat, it'll be a bloody mess._ Ivory thought grimly. It didn't help she was becoming a hemaphobic.

Everyone else seemed to be thinking the same way.

"One more chance!" Ex. Tyson cried as he raised his arm.

"Fine I-" Ivory started, even though it was futile, maybe if by giving herself up right now could stall just a bit more time for Jasper and David. She wasn't disappointed.

At that moment, Jasper and David came through the barren forest surrounding the Cerulean Gym – on the back of a Nidoking and Nidoqueen.

"Greetin's folk!" Almost at once, all hell broke loose.

Hundreds of Nidokings, Nidoqueens, Nidorinos and Nidorinas came bolting out of the undergrowth the same way as Jasper and David's had. The group smirked as they released their pokemon.

Numerous pokemon battle cries sounded as Rockets began firing and slashing. Yet the swords and blades proved harmless to the hard skin of the Poison pokemon.

Along with Ivory's squad of Kameko, Aldara, Panther and Chandra. There was Gizelle's Cubone, Graveler, Lairon, Marowak and Onix. Corey had Brute Root, Rhydon, Pidgeot, Scyther, Sandslash and Hitmonlee. Misty released most of the gym's pokemon that could move freely out of water including Corsola, Gyarados, Politoed, Starmie, Staryu, Cloyster, Dewgong and a Marill. Kouka shot out his own Onix, Typhlosion, Slowking, Stantler, Venomoth and Hypno (he held on to the other six). Then there was Casey, who not only let out her Meganium, but also an Elekid, Beedrill, Raticate, her own Pidgeot and Girafarig.

Thankfully, as all the pokemon and their trainers flung themselves into battle with the raging Nidos, at least they could differentiate between who was Rocket and who was not. It helped that the Rockets themselves didn't have any of their pokemon out.

It was funny and cool to Ivory how easily the pokemon paired up. The Nidos had taken out the bulk of the Rockets, now resorting to bashing or simply throwing one agent into a crowd of them. Yet there still seemed to be many of them.

The Onixes and Gyarados went out first, their rock hair skin, or in Gyarados' case rough scales, knocked the bullets of the arms away and their tails easily threw their attackers aside. Then the giant snake-like pokemon slithered onwards to the trucks where Rockets were desperately trying to restock.

Then the smaller pokemon like Panther tripped the Rockets from beneath. The large pokemon like the Nidos along with Rhydon and Meganium, took on the Rockets and won them out easily. Either the agents didn't have an ounce of courage in them or no Martial Art skills whatsoever.

Then Kouka and Corey personally took the task of punching Ex. Tyson into a pulp; unfortunately, he was as strong as the two put together.

"Bring it on," Ex. Tyson said with a nasty sneer, motioning for the two to make the first move as he leaned into a serious stance. At least the executive had a clue on how to fight.

Ivory watched as a Nidoqueen grabbed a Rocket by the scruff of his collar and flung him easily to the side where he crashed into a pair of Rockets trying to face off against Lairon. Gyarados took out two trucks with the two Onixes taking turns on bashing one into the ground. Their didn't seem to be any drivers, the front seats were empty beforehand and for that, Ivory felt strangely grateful.

"Watch out Ivory!" someone cried, Ivory turned to the side and dodged the long bayonet. She missed it by a hair,_literally_ as she heard the whistle snip off a piece. The Rocket that attempted to stab her had a mad gleam in his eyes.

"Wanna dance Lil Giovanni?" he asked, drool dribbled from his mouth. Ivory was disgusted.

"That jerk's name is and will NEVER be mine!" She cried as she brought her knee up and caught him in the jaw. She effectively knocked his balance off slightly. He readjusted his head (cracking some neck muscles in the process) and drew back the gun and aimed at Ivory. She gulped.

"_Feeeeeeaaaaaaawwww!"_ Aldara came down and with her deathly talons, grasped the man around the head and flew off with half his face. The man gushed blood as he dropped the gun gripped his face – crying and swearing every colorful word he knew.

If the sight wasn't so revolting to Ivory, she would've pitied the creep. Instead, she turned tail and ran the other way to help Casey escape the grasp of apparently a lustful agent.

This one appeared bulky, but was lily-livered.

"Back off!" Ivory kneed him where the sun doesn't shine and he dropped Casey before falling.

"You okay?" Ivory asked Casey, she immediately straightened, she nodded despite her pale face, shaky frame and the imprints of the man's digits around her throat.

"Right, shoot! Meganium!" Ivory cried, Casey instantly noticed the agent pointing a pistol at her beloved companion.

Aldara struck again as this man to lost flesh to her preying claws. Now it was obvious Aldara was living up to her Bird of Prey title, she saw the meat and she dove for it. Ivory was just thankful she could control her as far as displaying who it was okay to dive for.

At least Meganium was safe for Casey's sake.

"Where's Misty?" Ivory asked, Casey stared, her jaw dropped for the second that day. She raised a hand and pointed. Ivory followed it and spotted Misty throwing one punch after another. Her starfish pokemon swirling around her in a frenetic vortex.

Ivory couldn't help but watch the scene as well – it was better than cable.

Not far off, Elekid had stunned a good five Rockets with a powerful Thunder Wave, Aldara's talons and some of her under-feathers were heavily bloody and gruesomely, there was blood and bits of flesh upon her beak as well. A Nidoqueen (Ivory believed it was Velma) nearby knocked an agent unconscious without so much as a full-blown crack of her tail.

With a stomp, Stantler took down a pair of Rockets and over the roar of battle, Kouka nailed Ex. Tyson in the nose.

"Ha ha! You're going to need a cast too!" Ivory heard Corey over the noise. She turned red from the reminder.

"_Fall back!_" the voice rang loud and clear from Ex. Tyson's belt – a walkie-talkie?

"But-"

"_FALL BACK!"_ The voice was unfamiliar, but Ex. Tyson obliged.

"We're not through! RETREAT!" Pairs of red flares shot through the sky, Rockets instantly began fleeing (those who were conscious anyway), the sub or unconscious ones were left behind. Kouka and Corey tried as they might, but couldn't keep Ex. Tyson at bay.

"Here's a souvenir!" Ex. Tyson cried as he yanked out a pistol and randomly fired it towards the gym. No one looked at whom or what he shot at because someone threw a Smoke Ball and the thick fog swallowed everything.

People started coughing.

"Pidgeot! Blow this stuff away!" Corey shouted.

"You too Beedrill and Pidgeot!" Casey shouted.

"Aldara! Blow away!"

"Venomoth go for it!"

As told by their trainers, the two Pidgeots, Beedrill, Aldara and Venomoth successfully blew the remaining smoke away in minute molecules. Jasper and David slid off their mounts backs and ran towards the group.

"Know of 'ny casualties?" Jasper asked calmly, he had a scrape just above his brown and David had a torn sleeve and a shiner to boot. Casey still bore the bruises around her neck and a dark one below her knee. Gizelle was fine for the most part, except for a chipped nail she was cooing over and a split lip. Kouka and Corey were by the far the worst cases, with bruises from Ex. Tyson grabbing and twisting below the eyes and around the arms. Ivory was slammed hard onto her back, but it was only throbbing now.

"Where's Misty?" Ivory asked, the wind still a little knocked out of her, Kameko and Panther watched worriedly. Haunter, who had arrived in the midst of the battle, was poking an agent with a long stick.

"Geez, what a mess. I leave you all for a coupla weeks and this is what I get for a welcome back? I appreciate it and all, but c'mon," Ivory knew that voice, she'd been wanting to hear that voice…

Ryuu- 

"Ryuu!" Gizelle beat her to it as she flung her arms around the boy's neck. Ivory turned to find Ryuu a little ways from her right. He looked travel wary, a little worse for wear but altogether was fine. He had a bit of a rugged look, making Ivory blush slightly at the way his hair had grown since they had last seen each other. Gizelle extended her hug a little until she broke away.

"Where have you been?" she asked worriedly, but Ryuu frowned as his eyes landed on something among the bodies.

"Hold on, is that Misty?" Ryuu asked, almost at once, everyone frantically went towards the lump Ryuu had indicated. Ivory reached it first and found it was indeed Misty.

A bullet hole fit smoothly atop her collarbone and bled a river down her torso and onto the ground.

"Kouka!" Ivory cried, tears welling up in her as she felt for a pulse.

It was there, but weakening.

The clouds above rumbled, the angels began to bowl.

* * *

**A/N:**

_For those confused by the last sentence, I don't know if it was only my siblings and I, but when we were little. When it thunderstormed, our parents told us when it thundered, it was the angels bowling. So yeah, it could just be us but I just said that to clear up those who were baffled._

_Now that y'all know Ivory's mother is now married to Giovanni (I do believe he's the founder of TR, or was it his mom? If you guys know could you please tell me, I can't remember if I heard that in a fic or as a fact) you have to think of her predicament. Giovanni's mind is 'back in the day', where an heir takes over the thrown to continue the work. So Ivory might be the heiress unless they decide to have a child...hm. Where could this story be going? And don't think I've forgotten about wee little Pallet Town. Oh, I haven't forgotten them hehee..._

_School's back on tomorrow, joy to the world... _


	23. A Matter of Trust

**Chapter Twenty-Three --- A Matter of Trust  
**

"Good day Sir Giovanni," Commander Mars got down on one knee to show the 'proper respect' she was told to give to the leading head of Kanto (and to Team Rocket, soon of the entire world). Her short, blazing red hair shadowed her eyes and she strained herself to refrain from scowling as said man spoke.

"Greetings Commander Mars, I do hope Cyrus fairs well." Giovanni smirked lightly, knowing full well no one would know through his emotionless mask. Commander Mars' left eye twitched but she peered up at the man sitting in a large, crimson armchair surrounded by darkness and a persian at his feet. The only signs of light were emitted from a tall lamp pointing downwards at Giovanni's hands where he held a book.

She couldn't see his face because the light made her eyes shy.

"Perfectly, as you would expect from your Head Scientist." Commander Mars replied coolly, aware very loyal Rocket Executives stood on guard around her where she couldn't see them.

Giovanni placed the book in his lap then his right hand scratched his persian's left ear lovingly.

"Well, I just got back. How would I know if he were still standing?" he mocked, his flaunt bouncing around the room and off her eardrums. She carefully silenced a snarl.

"What is it you summoned me for?" she asked, easily controlling her volume and tone. Giovanni continued to smirk.

"My dear Executive Tyson-" a man lurking in the background tensed slightly. "-had issued an attack on the Cerulean Gym three days ago, unfortunately, things did not go as he had planned."

"What does this have to do with me?" she asked boldly, Giovanni closed his eyes as if in deep thought before reopening them.

His orbs glistened a merciless black that seemed to shine of the deepest pits of Hell.

His grin became wicked.

"I've been wanting to meet my stepdaughter for some time, but she's proven quite elusive. I order you to seek her out on your lonesome – it seems an ambush would attract a crowd – and bring her back to Viridian. It's time we met face-to-face,"

"And where would I find her exactly?" Commander Mars asked, in her mind she was already thinking. Perhaps it would be an easy catch; his stepdaughter – everyone knew – was Ivory Koguu, a measly thirteen-year-old. She couldn't be much of a threat by herself; the battle at Cerulean was a fluke. If it weren't for the rampage of Nidos they would've overtaken the gym easily…

"She still dwells in the Cerulean Gym, Tyson has informed me he shot the gym leader – Misty – and she's still bedridden." Giovanni answered. Commander Mars got to her feet.

"Then I will lure her out."

"No, wait for her to come to you - meaning don't do anything yourself, it might take some time, but I have learned to gain success is to learn patience. I've lived a long time for this throne I sit upon, I believe I can wait a little longer to see the girl." Giovanni stated calmly, his smirk still in place.

Persian meowed contentedly as her master touched a sensitive spot behind her ear.

"As you wish." She replied as she gave a small bow before turning around and making her way to the large doors.

"Oh, and Mars?" Giovanni called, her form froze. Now she could practically feel every stare on her from every direction, it made her sweat slightly.

"Bring her unharmed if you could. If she is as stubborn as her father was however…I grant you an exception. Teach her some mannerisms and discipline. Granted, I might not see you two for weeks." Giovanni claimed, Commander Mars nodded.

"Yes sir," Then she made her exit.

Giovanni gave the persian a final pat before picking the book back up again.

"_To be or not to be…that is the question._" Giovanni read through the lines in soft whispers. Persian watched him carefully. Her master looked up at the darkness before him, his eyes beyond adjustment to the blinding light beside him.

_Whose side, will you be loyal to Ivory Koguu? I will give you one choice._

* * *

It has been six days since the Battle of Cerulean Gym and Misty still hadn't awoken from her coma. Jasper and David had led the Nidos back just yesterday; claiming there would be no need for their assistance for a while and they needed specific treatment for certain injuries that could no longer go ignored. 

Casey was off in the Pool Room, possibly training her pokemon or working out. Kouka had been in the Back Room most of the days, running back and forth between said room and Misty's room. Corey went on a 'quest' to visit Lt. Surge and wasn't excepted back until tomorrow. Gizelle (to Ivory's disgust) turned out to have been studying under a Nurse Joy in Olivine City for the past two years and was most helpful in watching over Misty.

When Gizelle wasn't on her vigil, she was clinging to Ryuu (again, to Ivory's EXTREME disgust). Making it difficult for Ivory to see him let alone talk to him. All there was for her to do over the time was look after Misty's monitor or train.

However, now she was very bored. She was currently sitting at the kitchen table in the home part of the gym, munching on some afternoon dish of riceballs and meat pieces.

Her pokemon, sat around the table, eating from bowls on the floor. It was ten minutes into the meal and Panther was already finished and Aldara had sneaked onto her plate and made a hasty grab for a particularly juicy meat piece.

Ivory let her take it; she wasn't in the mood for bickering at the moment.

She knew it wasn't her fault that Misty was shot, so she didn't blame herself for that. It was that she enforced their going into battle. In the near future, they would all learn if it would've been better giving up Ivory. Perhaps if they had, Tyson would'd have randomly shot at Misty…but maybe it was intentional.

The thought raced across her mind several times, and the reasonable side of her argued constantly no matter how she looked at it – someone was bound to get hurt.

_If it wasn't Misty, it was going to be everyone in the end!_ That side had commented, and Ivory didn't deny it. If they hadn't fought, than they would've gotten her and destroyed the gym and all its inhabitants.

She just hoped Misty saw it that way.

"You look a little blue," it was Casey, Ivory secretly wished it was Ryuu coming around the corner and giving some harsh comment on sitting around and poking at her food. Ivory looked up at the Meganium trainer.

She was clad in sweats and a black tank top. Her blue hair back in a messy bun and a white towel around her neck. She seemed hardly worn out from working out all morning.

"That's a lot coming from you," Ivory retorted lightly as she bit into a riceball (she just now decided to touch them).

"It's not your fault y'know," she said offhandedly. Ivory sighed.

"I know," Casey gave her a look that said 'I don't believe you but I'll shrug it off anyway'.

"She won't think its yours either, she did make half the decision on her own." Casey stated as she sat in a chair opposite of Ivory.

"Yeah…" Ivory commented lazily as she jabbed her fork into a small piece of meat. In the corner of her eye, she saw Aldara watch it.

"Not for you," Ivory growled as she stuck in her mouth and Aldara looked away with a stubborn look.

Casey giggled.

"She's a bloody bird," said Casey, Aldara seemed to glow with pride without moving a muscle from the 'compliment'.

"A bloody pain too," Ivory added, Aldara's feathers emitted another wave of pride.

"I think you're restless, maybe you should catch another pokemon or something." Casey suggested.

"Too dangerous and there's not much out there to choose from anyway. I was thinking about the Power Plant again," Ivory voiced her thoughts as she took another bite out of the riceball.

"I feel like we keep getting side-tracked from that darn place, what's so interesting about it anyway?" Casey asked Ivory; Ivory gave her a small stare.

"They're _cloning_ legendary birds over there Casey!" Ivory cried, Casey nervously bit at her lip.

"_Attempting_ to remember? Sparky keeps saying they keep dying!" Casey claimed.

"They need to stop, they're messing with Mother Nature! It's wrong, I feel it and I don't know what to do about it." Ivory practically whispered the last part as she clenched her fork a little too hard.

"What about Orre?"

"I haven't even heard of it,"

"Yes you have, that Rocket said something about you going there."

"You're taking the word of a ROCKET to heart?"

"No, but you shouldn't be planning on taking on the Power Plant either!"

"Who said I was planning on doing _that?_" Ivory huffed as she finished off her meat and threw the last remaining bits of rice at Panther (who caught them efficiently in his mouth).

"You don't tell us much Ivory, we don't know what's going on in your head…so we don't know what you're_planning_." Casey claimed as she played with her thumbs beneath the table.

"That's not my problem, no one ever asks." Ivory stated as she pushed her chair back and stood up. She grabbed her plate and made her way to the sink at the counter behind Casey.

"Why didn't you tell us about your mother Ivory?" Casey asked after several seconds of silence. Ivory's hand paused over the facet.

"You mean how she was going behind my father's back and cheated on him then goes after the bastard she cheated with and marries him? What makes you think it would be a comfortable conversation topic to bring up for me? 'All right guys, I'm going to throw this out of the blue but I want to know what you guys think about my mother after I tell you what's she's done and so on and so forth'. Yeah, I've been _eager_ to let you guys in on my past." Ivory growled out as she ran the water and began scrubbing at the plate.

Casey sat quietly, a black cloud hovering the both of them.

"We've all had our dark times-"

"Some are still living in them, just in case you haven't noticed." Ivory interrupted sarcastically, her thoughts springing towards Richard and the ghosts of the Pokemon Tower.

"Ivory, can't you listen-"

"Sorry Casey, I'm not meaning to be nasty." Ivory apologized as she turned the facet off and started drying the plate.

Casey's eyes softened.

"You don't need to apologize, we're all going through the same thing – though, a bit more differently." Casey stated, "And it's obvious we're all taking it our own way."

"How did you become a messenger Casey?" Ivory asked as she put the plate away.

"Two years ago I was a fanatic over Baseball – over the Electabuzz's team especially. I've always been very fast; the quality helps when you dream of winning home runs in their name. When Kanto was taken over…my pokemon were tough and well-rounded, I could take on anyone with equal strength." Casey explained. "When Team Magma and Aqua joined together, they asked anti-Rocket trainers for help. They couldn't always depend on technology, knowing Team Rocket's surpassed ours. They needed active trainers that were literally quick on their feet. I had nothing better to do but recklessly rush into battle, so I did the responsible thing."

"You made the right choice." Ivory claimed as she took her original seat again.

"I know I did, but it does sound better when it comes from other people." Casey said with a smile.

* * *

Around the corner, away from their sight a figure was leaning against the wall. He wanted to remain unseen and knew they weren't aware of his eavesdropping. He hid there for two reasons – to see how Ivory's been doing since he had been gone and to keep away from Gizelle. 

Yes, this was Ryuu.

He had talked with Kouka for several hours it seemed just the other day. Kouka explained to him what Sabrina had told him and how Ivory had become physically and emotionally strong since he had last had contact with her.

What troubled him were Sabrina's thoughts on the matter.

Was there something wrong with Ivory's mentality? Sure, her physical and emotional well being were certainly beyond average due to her training with Agatha and everything else in general. The news of her mother obviously had an effect on her…maybe that was it. Ryuu was determined to find out, he hated how helpless he was at the moment.

The fact he could beat every danger (mainly trainers or physical threats) that came at her was comforting, but he couldn't help her mind if he didn't know what was making it crack in the first place.

He should probably ask her in person. But how to ask without offending her? It would also be good if she were alone at the time too.

"Well, I'm going back to the Weight Room, wanna come?" his ears perked when he heard Casey making her leave.

"Naw, I won't go, but perhaps you guys should. I need some time to think to myself anyway." Ryuu couldn't believe his luck; despite Panther's protesting whines he too followed after Casey and the rest of Ivory's pokemon.

This was his chance! If only he had a chance to think, but it was now or never, he had plans to go on another unscheduled 'trip' soon.

He took a few steps back quietly, then began walking (noisily to announce his presence to Ivory in the other room) into the kitchen. He feigned shock when he saw Ivory, but she was genuinely stunned.

"Ryuu?" she yelped as her azure eyes landed on him. He gave a brisk wave.

"Yo, did you eat yet?" he asked, even though he already knew she had.

"Yes I did, what're you doing here?" she asked cautiously, why did it pain him now how careful she was around him? He had asked for it after all, he knew. He berated himself for thinking too deeply into the matter, his conscious would soon get to him he knew and he also knew he wouldn't be able to stop what would follow.

"Same as you, getting something to chow on." Ryuu answered as he searched the cabinets above the counters. He frowned when he only found a box of cereal.

"There's leftovers in the fridge," Ivory claimed, Ryuu snorted.

"I don't eat leftovers," he grunted, his arrogant eyes swerving over towards the refrigerator.

"Why not?"

"I just don't like leftovers," he retorted sharply, he winced when she flinched from his tone.

_Just asking,_ Ivory thought, her brows furrowing. He doesn't have to get on her case so harshly.

"Sorry," Ivory managed out; she seemed to be saying that a lot lately. Ryuu gave a sigh.

"Don't fret over it." Ivory raised a brow.

"'Fret?'" Ivory repeated, "that's an old word."

"No one really uses that word anymore, when I say a rare word I feel important." Ryuu smirked as he leaned his back against the counter, not really hungry (he was just looking for an excuse to be in the kitchen).

"I'm sure," Ivory didn't doubt it one bit, she was happy though, he hadn't changed too much – which she could believe was as much as a bad thing as it was good.

"You still don't trust me?" he asked, he suddenly appeared downcast, in which caught Ivory totally off guard.

"W-What? Where did this come from?" she watched him with utmost scrutiny, he appeared serious enough.

"Since I had come back, you haven't talked to me much-"

"Well, you see, you have this parasite clinging to you named Gizelle-"

"-I can't really blame you for not trusting me-"

"Really? Enlighten me,"

"-but you KNOW it was for your own good-"

"I still have bruises on my bruises,"

"-I just don't understand why you don't tell anyone anything!"

"Did you just go over how you couldn't blame me for not trusting you?" Ivory asked with confusion written over her blue stones. Ryuu made eye contact with her, his gaze piercing hers.

"I didn't say only me, there's a gym full of people and pokemon. You have yet to tell anyone anything personal about yourself,"

"Were you not just eavesdropping on Casey and me?" Ivory asked from her end of the table, Ryuu's posture faltered and Ivory smirked.

"I'm not stupid," Ivory claimed proudly, Ryuu gave her a serious look.

"I never said you were." He retaliated, Ivory appeared taken back. She looked down at the table surface as if embarrassed.

"You always made it seem like I was," Ivory muttered, just loud enough for Ryuu to hear. Ryuu's heart lurched at the vulnerable picture she was painting for him. She had brought her arms up and laid her head in them. In her large red hoodie and baggy blue sweats, her adorable head full of gray hair stood out. She looked like she was sleeping until she lifted her head slightly to peer at him through one visible blue eye.

"I never meant any of it, you know that." Ryuu stated, he didn't know if he was digging a hole for himself or trying to make it seem like he never did anything to hurt her.

"I didn't know that…back then," she said, her voice sounded in pain and he yearned to ease it, but brushed the feeling aside.

_She's thirteen! _He mentally growled to himself, he clenched his fists. Ivory noticed this and recalled the time back at the Pokemon Center after the false Team Rocket incident. She waited for another disagreement like that one.

"You're still the child we all knew back then too," Ryuu said bluntly before pushing himself off the counter. When he heard a sniff he immediately made a break out of the room, he would definitely lose his cool if she broke out in tears with him in the same room.

* * *

"_Ryu-" Ivory's head snapped up to look at the older boy but she felt instant pain meet her left cheek._

"_Keep quiet!" he snarled._

_At first she didn't believe it was Ryuu's voice, she didn't _want_ to believe it was Ryuu's voice, she didn't want to be here. But the pungent pain along her skin told her it was in fact, Ryuu who smacked her and snarled at her. When she tried to straighten herself up in a proper standing position. She couldn't help but bring her hand to her cheek, to feel wetness there…_

_Was it the pain that made tears fall or the sting of betrayal?_

Ivory touched her left cheek, somehow the pain from before came back and the memories launched at her like someone throwing stove pans at her. She didn't want to remember, but she had to. She had to remember that she had to watch Ryuu's every step around her, he could snap at her for every little mistake she would make. He hasn't changed, she knew he would do something in his short stay to her.

She just didn't know what, and she was suddenly horribly scared of the unknown.

_Who is it that I can trust?_ Someone in her head spoke, it was the small, child-like side of Ivory that demanded for affection. The darker part of her mind however, remained silent; it skulked around her subconscious, just waiting to surface.

* * *

Commander Mars snarled. 

_How the hell did these tickets get me to Goldenrod!!_ Thankfully, she wasn't clad in Team Galactic wear, if she was, the Johto Police would be on her like a flea to a growlithe.

* * *

A/N: 

The Edit things are still not working! ARG! Anyway, I got a Nintendo DS for my 17th birthday! Woot! So, I just started playing Pokemon Pearl! I'm excited, then I got YYH vol. 5, so I'm trying to get motivated for two different fanfics here. LOL I might enter another trainer soon...but mon, Ryuu's harsh. Then again, he does have his reasons. I'm not so sure about fluff, so if you guys are waiting for some, I'm not sure what to tell you.


	24. New Plan

**Chapter Twenty-Four --- New Plan**

Ivory stroked Panther overly stroked fur. Yet the eevee didn't seem to mind.

"_Eevee…" _he purred, Ivory smiled lightly. Kouka had started pulling all the kinks out of the heater and making it run wild throughout the gym, he feared it would be one cold winter, and it seemed he would be right. For the past two days, every time Ivory looked through a plank of wood nailed to the wall or dare to sneak a peek through a door, there were dead, but colorful leaves everywhere.

Despite the take over, Mother Nature was not allowing Team Rocket to ruin her beautiful seasons. Ivory was glad, but the nippy winds were coming and hitting the gym hard, proving it would be an early bitter time.

That, for some reason, made Ivory nervous.

It was nearing November, Ivory's pokemon were at their peak and well into their level twenties. Kameko spent more time out of the water than usual (when she was around it). Ivory found this peculiar, but when she asked Casey about it, it turns out Turtle pokemon like Kameko naturally hibernate during the winter in the ground.

Ivory wondered whether she should let her, but then again she would get out of shape but by not letting her hibernate…wouldn't that throw off some sort of natural balance?

Casey told her not to worry about it; she also explained Aldara's restlessness was due to her instincts for flying south. Chandra and Haunter remained unaffected by the drastic weather change, but Panther's coat began to grow another layer.

Ivory was in awe at it all, the way pokemon adjust to their surroundings was absolutely astonishing! She took it in her time to observe the other pokemon around her in the gym. Unlike Kameko, the Water pokemon (like Dewgong and Cloyster) were addicted to the water more than ever. Corsola remained equally on the land and water; she was actually spending a lot of time with Misty's Luvdisc at the bottom of the pool. Blaze wasn't even in the room; he was in Ivory's room sleeping soundly on her bed.

Ivory absently looked up at a nearby clock. It was almost midnight and she still wasn't tired.

Darkness smothered itself around the ceiling of the Pool Room, Dewgong and Starmie splashed at each other playfully and Kameko eyed them. Ivory placed a hand on her wartortle's head. Said pokemon looked up at her.

"_War?"_

"Would you like to hibernate this winter?" Ivory asked her pokemon, hoping she would say no and wishing she would say yes. Kameko shook her head stubbornly, knocking Ivory's hand off her head.

"_Wartortle warrr,"_ Kameko growled, Aldara on the other side of the room seemed willing to take Ivory's blessing for a long journey to the Sevii Islands.

"Well, would that…hurt you at all?" Ivory asked, Kameko gave her a look that said "I wouldn't be the first pokemon to go against my natural impulses." Ivory thought over those, trainers all over the world had pokemon with distinct mood changes due to temperature and seasons. She knew it was unreasonable to believe they all obliged to hibernation and flight to the south.

"As long as you're okay with it," Ivory stated simply, Kameko nodded as if confirming her decision.

The Pool Room door flung open.

Ivory jerked her head so fast her body followed; the movement knocked Panther off and flung her body to the floor and on her back. She was suddenly very thankful she decided to sit on a towel instead of a bench.

Large feet sounded across the ceramic flooring.

"Are you Ivory Koguu?" he was a BIG man, he leaned over and peered down at her with his hands on his hips. He had a shock of spiked yellow hair and bronze skin. Was that military attire he was wearing? Against the dim ceiling lights, he was a shadow except for his startling electric brown eyes.

"Who wants to know?" she asked, trying not to think about the humiliating position she was in against the six footer (seven footer? She couldn't tell from her angle)

The man grinned.

"Lt. Surge, that's me." He said as he bent down further and with one large hand, he got it behind her head and grasped the scruff of her hoodie. He then yanked her up and set her on her feet. She swayyed lightly, that 'kind gesture' almost made her suffocate.

"Wait, why are you here? Aren't you the Vermilion Gym Leader?" Ivory asked as she gained sufficient oxygen to speak. Lt. Surge suddenly seemed irked.

"Yeah, I am. But the EO wanted me around, they thought seeing as I'm always locked up in my gym that no one outside would notice my disappearance." He explained, Ivory nodded in understanding as Panther jumped up on her shoulder. Lt. Surge looked at her strangely.

"Y'know…if I were to give you a League hat and black hair, you would look a lot like Ash with that itty bitty pokemon on your shoulders." He commented, Panther cocked his head at the statement.

_Itty bitty?_

"Wasn't Corey sent to get you? Where is he?" Ivory asked.

"What is this, Twenty Questions or something?" The big man asked as he pointed behind him.

"He's with Kouka and the lasses, he told me to come introduce myself. He said you would be a valid opponent soon, for me that is." Lt. Surge said, excited by the fact of an approaching battle. By looking at his size, Ivory was sort of afraid to put any of her pokemon against his.

"What are they all doing?" Ivory questioned, Lt. Surge gave her a deadpanned look.

"Waiting for us, he also sent me to fetch you – the nerve of the rascal," Lt. Surge growled out, as if embarrassed by the low rank order. Ivory recalled how Professor Oak told her that he was once a TR Executive, what made him change sides and how was he as a Rocket?

"Well, are you coming?" the man asked.

"Y-Yes, Panther stay here with Aldara, Kameko can come with me." Chandra was hanging out with Haunter somewhere in the gym's attic (was there one?) or something. She actually wouldn't put it past Haunter to be teaching Chandra bad habits such as sneaking up on unsuspecting TR agents and the like. Panther obeyed and pawed over to the solitary Bird of Prey. Kameko followed after Ivory and Lt. Surge.

"_Eeveeee ev!"_ Panther cried up to Aldara as the three left the room. Aldara gave him a swift glare before turning her back to him. Panther eyed the fearow, an idea forming in his little head.

Ivory specifically had only Kameko come with her because to Ivory, she was her first pokemon and certainly her closest thing to _partner_ in her small pokemon team. Panther was her _baby,_Chandra was her _shy little sister_, Haunter was the _obnoxious brother_ and Aldara was the _spooky grandmother_. Okay, not really…Aldara was her _homicidal cousin_.

Ivory covered her mouth to stifle her giggles at the relations running through her head about Aldara. Kameko watched her with concern and Lt. Surge was sending her odd glances.

"What? Do I have a clefairy drawn on my back?" he asked, Ivory giggled but waved it off with her other hand.

"It's n-nothing," she said through her chokes of laughter. Lt. Surge looked at Kameko, who shrugged back.

"You can't beat me with a wartortle you know," Lt. Surge stated.

"Why not?"

"You'll see."

Did Ivory say how she hated mysteries? Well, she does.

"Hey, how nice of you to join us – finally." Corey exclaimed, Lt. Surge glared at him.

"She tipped over then decided to play Twenty Questions, it was out of my hands." Lt. Surge replied sarcastically, blushing slightly from how he put it Ivory sat beside Casey in the small living room before the doors leading into the Pool Room. On the other side of the glass walls, Ivory could hardly see Dewgong and the other water pokemon. Aldara (as far as she could see) was thoroughly ignoring the normal pokemon she was unofficially ordered to baby-sit.

Ryuu snorted as he attempted not to laugh with Gizelle beside him watching him gleefully. Ivory didn't look at him, she watched Corey instead. Casey noticed this and decided to ask about it later.

"So…" Lt. Surge broke through the silence, Kameko made a seat for herself at Ivory's feet. Meganium towered over Casey from the other side of the sofa. Corey and Lt. Surge stood alone, on opposite sides of the setting. Gizelle and Ryuu were across from the two girls, a coffee table with a smooth wooden surface sat between them.

"Misty got herself bloody huh? Ways of an upcoming war, can't be helped." Lt. Surge claimed stoically.

"War?" Ivory yelped.

"Yes, _war_. It's when people go against each other for one reason or another-" Lt. Surge began but Corey cut in.

"The EO's been expecting war for the past two years, it's inevitable Ivory. In order to gain something you want, you've got to fight for it." Corey explained, Ivory glared at the both of them.

"I _know_ that!" she hissed.

"Then why did you ask?" Ryuu asked with a playful smirk.

Ivory huffed.

"She is getting better…isn't she?" Casey asked, referring to the bedridden Misty.

"Kouka's sitting with her now…we're not sure." Corey claimed, as if exhausted. No one could blame him; he just came back from almost a weeklong journey. That included creeping past agents – dumb and wise. Cutting the right wires and keeping watch 24-7.

"We need to decide on your next whereabouts Ivory," Lt. Surge brought up, Ivory turned to look at him as quickly as she had in the Pool Room. This time, she didn't knock herself over.

"What?"

"You heard me,"

"But-why?"

"You need to keep Team Rocket guessing, they KNOW you're here for sure so they're bound to come again." Corey said, Ryuu appeared ready to put his two cents in.

"Also, you're endangering lives here, not only ours but the rest of the Cerulean citizens. We're planning on taking you down to-"

"Celadon than eventually Fuchsia, Erika and Koga ensured your safety would be their top priority." Kouka popped into the room. "Ryuu will be taking you,"

This shocked everyone.

"What? I thought we were planning on Lt. Surge helping her down to Vermilion then getting her on the Cycling Path…?" Corey questioned.

"Cycling Path requires too much effort, she would need a bike but she would stand out more on one. Also the security's so high on that thing no one _without_ a bike can squeeze through. They even shoved off the bicycle gangs on that bridge." Kouka claimed, he was only a half a foot shorter than Lt. Surge.

"So you suggest we put her through the bigger danger of traveling on foot to Celadon and even worse – Fuchsia? That would take weeks-" Casey cried.

"A month and a half I'm guessing." Kouka claimed.

"Without traffic," Ryuu added in, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"You're not helping the cause dear," said Gizelle with a deadpanned look on her face. Ryuu seemed to glower at her from the small nickname when she wasn't looking.

Kameko found it amusing and smirked at Ryuu's discomfort; she disliked him as much as Ivory did if not more.

"How do plan she do this all unharmed?" Casey asked.

"Well, she's certainly not going alone. Ryuu's experienced enough, the two of you together won't create unnecessary attention from any parties and are perfectly capable of taking down a legendary together." Kouka stated, noting the legendary thing a hyperbole. Ivory rolled her eyes.

"They might be confronted either way and security isn't very _light_ anywhere, like they're keeping us all from escaping." Said Casey. Ivory secretly agreed with her and she wasn't exactly eager to go on another adventure with Ryuu alone anytime soon.

"We believe otherwise," Kouka broke in. Casey peered at him.

"It's a theory the Rockets all believe, that outside powerful trainers will attempt to break in and destroy them from the inside." Corey explained.

"Well, that makes little to no sense. Shouldn't they suspect the powerful INSIDE trainers might tear 'em apart?" Ivory asked.

"Other than Gary Oak and whomever else of the Battle Frontier and Elite Four who are actually still IN Kanto – who are still alive anyway, Team Rocket doesn't have much fear of an inside rebellion." Lt. Surge snarled. Ivory flinched, he obviously heard of Agatha's passing.

"With the gym leaders stuck inside their gyms trying their best to remain on Giovanni's good side, all we can do is wait for the right time." Kouka said.

"When will it be _that_ time?" Ivory asked carefully.

"We're not sure, we don't even know if we should wait for Ash's return or start duking it out now." Ryuu claimed as he looked away in deep thought.

"But…wouldn't battling now be suicide? I mean, if it's an option, wouldn't the EO have already started. What have we done up to this point?" Ivory asked.

"Here we go again," Lt. Surge grunted, Ivory shot him a glare.

"Ivory…the EO's as frightened of Team Rocket as Team Rocket is afraid of an uprising." Corey said.

"Their afraid of an uprising? Then why isn't EO…erm, uprising?" Ivory pressed.

"Be more human than Team Rocket Iv-chan, starting an uprising now would cost us a lot to the point it would be in vain." Ivory suddenly felt small, she didn't mean that…Casey gave her a pat on the back.

"You haven't been in the real world as much as we have Ivory, don't take what the meanie is saying to heart." Casey comforted ("I'm not a meanie!" cried Corey in the background). Ivory smiled, a nudge at her knee made her cast her attention towards Kameko, whom displayed in her expression that she knew her trainer didn't mean harm.

"Anyway, do we agree on Ivory's expedition to Celadon and then Fuchsia?" Lt. Surge asked, no one disagreed.

"All right, pack your things Iv, you and Ryuu are leaving before dawn." Kouka claimed.

"HOW exactly are we getting there?" Ryuu asked coolly.

"You're going hiking! Going _straight_ through the forests," Lt. Surge answered, Ryuu actually lost a shade of color. Gizelle protested.

"What! You're sending Ryuu to Celadon _that_ way!" Gizelle was as unhappy with the set pairing as Ivory was, though for a very different reason.

"What? You prefer he be shot down at the tunnel entrances?" Casey challenged, Gizelle shut her mouth and Ivory sent her a grateful look. Casey smiled back.

As soon as the group dismissed, Ivory headed for the Pool Room only to be cornered by Casey.

"What was that all about?" Casey asked, Ivory gave her a quizzical look.

"What?"

"You weren't looking at Ryuu at all!" Casey pointed out.

"Is it required that I look at everyone that I know is around me?" Ivory asked sarcastically as the doors slid open automatically for them. Dewgong and the rest of Misty's water pokemon had slid into slumber in the humans' absence. Even Aldara with Panther snoozing on her feathers appeared asleep.

"Well, no, but you didn't even slip a glance at 'im. I thought you liked him," Casey said, making Ivory go red.

"I don't _like_ him at all, he's a back-stabber." Ivory growled out as she turned away to hide her crimson face.

"Is this what it's all about? That time back before you got into Vermilion?" Casey questioned.

"How'd you know about that?"

"I'm a _Messenger_, it's my job to know. So c'mon, spill your guts." Casey pressed.

"Do I have to – _literally?_" Ivory sighed dramatically.

"Must you be a smart-alec? Kouka and Corey were looking at you weird too," Casey stated.

"Why is it that everyone is under the idea that I like him?" Ivory snarled, "I don't even want to think about romance – we're on a verge of _WAR_ here!"

"True, and you are quite young." Casey said.

"Really? Let's swap ages then 'cuz your still talking like a girly girl." Ivory replied.

"Tsk tsk, I'm much more _mature!_" Casey claimed with a distinct 't'.

"Fine, but leave me alone all right, I have to leave tomorrow at _dawn_." Ivory wasn't fascinated by the idea, in fact, sleeping in sounded great now and she wasn't thrilled about going anywhere with Ryuu – again.

"I guess you're giving me no choice then," said Casey sadly as Ivory returned her pokemon along with Kameko whom had been at her side.

"You're still here?" Ivory said as she turned to face the blunette.

"Yeah, I know. I wanted to tell you something, but I'm not sure how to voice it…" Casey almost whispered. "Or what exactly I wanted to tell you and I need to say it…I might not be seeing you for a while."

"You make it sound like I'm gonna die, you should be worried about Ryuu. After all, if danger comes around I'm not going to hang around with the jerk – like he needs protection."

"But that's why we're sending him with you, he's a powerful trainer Ivory." Casey claimed as they exitted the Pool Room, the living room setting was empty and so was the hall Ivory's room was in.

"Powerful trainer, yes, I'll give him that. But there's no point to being powerful if you're on the wrong side." Ivory growled.

"He's on OUR side Ivory," Casey said as they came to her door.

"So? Being so powerful and all he can switch over easily, after all, Team Rocket's full of traitors."

"Are you saying he's disloyal?"

"I'm just _saying_ I haven't seen anything _loyal_ from him in the first place! To make a long story short, he's a pain in the ass and I really want this nightmare to end!" Ivory ran through the door and slammed it shut. Leaving Casey in the hall by herself, to listen to the weeping child inside.

This hasn't been the first Casey had heard her cry on the other side of the door at night. If she was sleeping or awake while doing so, Casey wasn't sure. She often heard tidbits of what Ivory could possibly be crying about, but she could understand why she would want to hide it and the reason behind it.

Casey winced slightly, it pained her to think and know the agony was only beginning. It had only been two years; there had been no sign of good news of any of their idols or the Pokemon Champion. Like Ivory said, they were on the verge of war and people and pokemon alike were already dying for its cause.

Then there were the other regions, just how many would fall to their demise and how long would it be, until they could rebuild their lost world?

Casey mentally sighed as she began the trek to her room. She also had places to go and missions to perform. At this current moment, no second should go wasted.

* * *

A/N:

Okay, I discovered what has been going on with the settings. Turns out my computer's lazy and doesn't want to do anything because it works perfectly fine on my parents computer downstairs (I can't load things on it either bah!) Anyway, HAPPY 2008! Woot! I'm trying to get re-obsessed with Yu Yu Hakusho at the moment, I just bought another DVD (I have yet to see the whole Three Kings saga which irks me darn't!) for $12.00 weee! So yeah, here's another chapter and I can't wait till the next one because I really want to make in a little more upbeat and I want time to go a liiiiiiiiittle faster. Seeing as winter is my fave. season and we're currently in that said season, winter will probably be one of the longer times in most of my fics.

LOL

Till next time! RR


	25. Calm Before the Storm

**Chapter Twenty-Five --- Calm Before the Storm**

Ivory sighed heavily as she put her bag together. She sent an envious glance at her occupied poke'balls, all inside them were the slumbering Kameko, Aldara, Panther, Chandra and Blaze. Haunter was about, probably scanning their day's hiking trail.

Ivory then moved her bag aside and peered down at her neatly folded outfit. She growled, the idea of stripping and exposing her warm flesh to the cooler temperature outside was anything but pleasant…

_Just get it over with…_ She mentally muttered as she grabbed her shirt and began lifting it.

"Hey, Ivory ready yet-" Ryuu's voice chimed.

"_WHAT THE HELL RYUU GET OUT!!!_"**SLAM!!!** Ryuu's fingers were practically split from their knuckles as Ivory went haywire, her face horribly red.

Ryuu (from the momentum in her charge) was flung back against the hallway wall. Not daring to say anything because he actually didn't have a clue why she flipped out (he actually didn't see anything, well, so much for his convivial mood.)

It was three in the morning, but because of Ivory the whole residence (with the exception of Misty and Ryuu) woke with a start.

Funny how everyone heard her scream "Ryuu" and automatically blamed him for their early awakenings.

"I could've gotten _two_ more friggin' hours of sleep you moron!" Casey groaned obviously not a morning person as she snagged a plain bagel from the kitchen counter. Ryuu's left eyebrow twitched with annoyance as Gizelle suddenly bounded from around the corner.

"Stop blaming Ryuu-kun! It wasn't his fault the brat started screaming!" Gizelle defended, Casey glared at her hotly and Ryuu attempted to pretend she didn't exist.

She made it hard though.

"What did you do that made her yell anyways?" Casey asked, Ryuu shrugged.

"Dunno, maybe she was performing some secret training ritual and didn't want anyone to know." Ryuu guessed, Gizelle and Casey sweat-dropped.

"In other words, she could have been getting dressed." Casey pinpointed.

"Oh gawd my Ryuu's a pervert!"

"I am NOT _your_ Ryuu!"

* * *

"You never know, things could get better between us…"_It's supposed to snow ugh…_ Ivory thought glumly as she peaked through a slit in between the planks boarded to her window. The trees around the gym appeared ready and held their branches closer to their trunks as if expecting a blizzard.

That would make her day (future) crummy.

_Knock! Knock!_

Ivory looked up at the door.

"Come in," Ivory spoke at last, the door squeaked open and Casey stepped in.

"Hey," the blunette greeted uneasily with a small smile, Ivory attempted to smile back but only got her lips to curve upward briefly.

"Ryuu says he's ready to go when you are, he only told me to come back here in case you attacked him again. I also wanted to say good-bye," Casey explained herself nervously.

"I haven't known you very long, but…you're a strong one Ivory. To tell you the truth…I don't know how you do it." Casey admitted as she shut the door behind her.

"Do what?"

"I'm sorry for bringing it up but…if my hometown and family was…yeah, I wouldn't know how to deal with it."

"I haven't dealt with it yet Casey," the thirteen-year-old corrected, making Casey jump.

"You're not planning revenge are you?" Casey asked almost timidly, her answer was obvious when Ivory's eyes flashed and looked away. "Oh please Ivory! Don't go down to _their_ level! If you plan to avenge your town – it'll eat you from the inside! Just don't okay? We all want to have our share of torturing Giovanni as much as the next person, but none of us do because we can't do it by ourselves – _on our lonesome._"

Ivory looked back at her, her azure pools swirling mysteriously. Casey paled, what was that _lurking_ behind those innocent irises?

_Sabrina, what is going on with her? _Casey pondered; she figured whatever shadow had just raced before Casey's eyes must have something to do with Ivory's supposedly _unstable_ mental capacity.

"You don't have to worry, I trust _you_. I _trust_ your word, so I'll believe you. Just believe I won't do something like that," Ivory spoke calmly, her face brightening ever so slightly. Casey reddened lightly.

This WAS Ivory Koguu she was speaking to right?

She seemed so…mature…

"I'll hold you to it Iv-chan," Casey replied.

"Thanks,"

"Now, let's go. Ryuu's awaiting and the sooner you're in Fuchsia the better!" Casey then snagged onto Ivory's wrist.

"By the way, I picked out the clothes!"

* * *

Down in the kitchen stood Ryuu, Lt. Surge, Kouka and Corey. Gizelle was back with Misty.

"There's supposed to be a heavy snowstorm tomorrow evening, perhaps we should delay-"

"No. We can't,"

"What if they _die_?"

"Simple, then even if Giovanni gets his hands on his_stepdaughter_, she will be deemed useless." Ryuu growled, the other three men peered at him with saddened eyes. Lt. Surge's remained firmer than the other two and was the first to notice Casey dragging in Ivory.

Ryuu mentally huffed at Casey's fashion taste (they knew she picked out the outfit).

Dressed in a white turtleneck and light blue Jeans, Ivory was _ivory_. The bright hue was so foreign to all of them by this point, she seemed to glow.

Ivory's hair was drawn back in a short ponytail, her emo bag had been returned and now holds all her accessories once again.

"Are you ready?" Ryuu asked, Ivory replied with a nod.

"Let's go before the sun rises," Ryuu ordered as he headed out first with Ivory in tow.

Before they reached the door however, Ryuu had stopped and with rapid movements, flung Ivory a large coat of white and gloves.

"It's supposed to snow." Ryuu answered her unasked question. "And it's really cold outside."

Ivory huffed, hardly hearing the others in the other room chatting among themselves in quick whispers.

Ryuu shut the door to the kitchen as Ivory hauled herself into the bulky winter coat and slipped her gloves on.

Suddenly a set of earmuffs settled on her ears.

"I don't need you going and catching hypothermia." Ryuu said bluntly as he removed his hands from the puffs. Ivory only blinked.

"_Haunter!"_ Haunter made a buoyant entrance out of thin air. Unlike Ivory, this startled Ryuu into jumped five feet away.

"Bad Haunter," Ivory muttered sarcastically with a smirk, Haunter laughed.

"Safe?" Ryuu questioned with a disgruntled appearance from his surprise.

"Haunt," 

"Yes?"

"Haa…" 

"All right then, let's head out."

_Are we not even going to properly say farewell? Corey? Kouka? Lt. Surge…_ Ivory had to tear her eyes away from the kitchen door.

What about Misty? 

The chilly breeze whipped at her face as soon as Ryuu opened the outside door. Her eyes began to blur from the frozen air and tears ran down her cheeks. Haunter appeared untouched, but then again, he was a Ghost pokemon.

"C'mon, we have a long way to go." Ryuu said as he shifted his camping bag on his back and reached back a hand to her.

Ivory was surprised by this gesture; she reluctantly looked up at Ryuu.

"You are so difficult…" Ryuu snarled as he grabbed her hand impatiently and started walking – dragging her along with him.

_He cares, why did I ever call him disloyal?_

They went through the door (after Ryuu disarmed about twelve locks) and closed it rapidly behind them. Almost instantly, Haunter let out a surprised cry.

An aggron roared out from the bushes and rampaged towards them.

Ryuu and Ivory reacted at the same time.

"Blaziken!"

"Blaze!" The two fire pokemons cried out their respective names as they appeared before the charging aggron.

"Fire Punch!"

"Fire Fang!"

Blaziken's right fist blazed in a bright orange flame before he ran at Aggron. Blazeheart's mouth flared and he pursued after Blaziken, his tail flame glaring brighter with each step.

Blaziken leaped, leaving Blazeheart free to attack without causing harm to his party.

"_Blaziken!"_ Aggron hauled himself to a stop and glowered up at Blaziken before opening its mouth wide – revealing several rows of sharp teeth. Blazeheart flew at its steel belly before it could bellow. With this distraction and to a steel pokemon, the brutal agony of his melting iron flesh, Blaziken reared down and landed his fist into Aggron's strong skull.

Time slowed and the flames of the pokemons' attack burned out. Blaziken and Blazeheart jumped back, both inspecting their damage and scanning over the aggron's eyes.

It blacked out and crumbled to the ground.

"Whose pokemon is that?" Ivory asked almost too loudly, aggrons were not native to Kanto and according to Haunter's report, there was no danger around.

Where had it come from?

"Good Lord…" Ryuu sighed, he wouldn't admit it but he had been taken by surprise and was equally as baffled as Ivory. Ivory spotted the reason for his change of mood.

Blaziken and Blazeheart shifted into their fighting poses as a shadowy figure came running from the woods along the damaged path made by the aggron.

"Hey! Hey! Thanks fer knockin' 'im out!" It was Jasper, Ivory watched with wide eyes as the old man appeared then halted at the aggron's side – not out of breath in the least.

_What is he? An older version of the Flash?_ Ivory wondered as she calculated the distance of about three or four miles from the EO base. Jasper looked around the aggron, taking a few Burn Heals and spraying them over the melted armor.

"'orry bout that, he got out." Jasper apologized as he then returned the aggron to a poke'ball he conveniently had in a pocket.

"How'd he get out?" Ryuu asked, suddenly very serious.

"Chill lad, I was a headin' out and 'e got anxious see…" Jasper answered sheepishly as the two pokemon lifted their stances. Jasper scratched the back of his head nervously as he passed them.

"I was a comin' to give someone to a Ivory here," Jasper said as he approached Ivory and grabbed her hand gently. He then placed something in her palm and when he let go, she saw it was a minimized poke'ball.

"Who-"

"Don't cha recognize 'er?" Jasper asked with a cheeky grin. When Ivory peered closely, she spotted the mini form of a steelix – it was Diamondpelt fully healed!

"She a owes a lotta to ya! Ya won't ta have a problem wit controllin' 'er, but she has a sweet temper, so yeah, no worries. Just wanted to a give 'er to ya before you a left." Jasper explained, cringing slightly from Ryuu's narrowed stare.

"You don't have to tell me, but at least inform Kouka and Corey how the aggron got out. The door you usually leave through is no where near the underground arenas you keep them in. Unless you went through the other door…?" Ryuu gave Japser a questioning glance.

"I was a goin' to tell 'em, don't get all bossy wit me Ryuu! Just didn't want ter bother Ivory-chan!" Jasper scolded as he made eyes venture back to Ivory.

"Be strong 'n careful kay?"

"We will," Ivory replied, happy to hear so much concern over her. At the same time it bugged her, but she couldn't blame them.

"All right, later." Jasper said before hurrying to the door they had just come through – entered the right password on the security pad – and disappeared into the gym.

"…" Ryuu was silent as he returned Blaziken. Ivory did the same with Blazeheart a second later.

They stood still for a moment.

"I'm impressed." Ryuu admitted, his eyes shadowed by his bangs.

"Really?" Ivory tried but couldn't help it, were her ears playing tricks on her? Did Ryuu _actually_ compliment her?

"Is the sky falling?" Ivory asked innocently as she cautiously looked up at the blue vast fields. Ryuu huffed as he pushed his bangs aside.

"It will eventually," Ryuu growled. "Now c'mon, it's a long way to Celadon."

"Right," Ivory felt somewhat lighter of her burdens, she had a new pokemon and Ryuu said something kind to her.

Haunter hovered over them, cackling every now and then with the thoughts he occupied himself with. His cackling eventually got annoying so Ivory released Chandra to direct his entertainment elsewhere. Ryuu had watched in relief as Haunter and Chandra began floating side by side. Haunter not saying a word and Chandra blushing slightly.

The two trainers didn't pay them much mind however, as a harsh wind nearly blew Ivory off her feet.

"Aah!" Ivory held her ground and gripped onto her earmuffs. Ryuu gripped at his coat then pulled something out from an inside pocket. Ivory slid an eye open to see that it was yellow – a Poke'nav?

"Since when do you have a Pokemon Navigator?" Ivory asked as the wind relaxed for a moment. Ryuu appeared to be ignoring her as he also pressed a finger to his ear, where Ivory knew was a flesh-colored earpiece.

"That snowstorm's coming in fast, forecast says it'll hit in about…two hours?" Ryuu seemed to doubt that as the two looked up at the sky. The sky was darkening rapidly; the clouds bundled together and threatened the earth they would soon release.

"We've only been walking for twenty minutes!" Ivory gasped, it had taken a while to dodge around curious folk and make it this far. Ryuu claimed ten minutes ago they were close to the security gate.

"Then let's get this over with and find shelter, we can't go back to the gym now and we certainly can't take residence anywhere else in the city." Ivory knew he was referring to the security gate where they would have to sneak past the Rockets there.

_Why can't we go back to the gym and head out tomorrow?_ Ivory wanted to ask, but she was afraid it would provoke Ryuu into a snappy remark. He seemed to have read her mind.

"Team Rocket's probably at the gym again." Ryuu explained, Ivory yelped.

"What? Then we have to go back-"

"We knew they would show up Ivory, that's why we needed you to start moving again." Ryuu continued with a troublesome sigh. "Besides, it won't be an ambush like last time. They wouldn't send in troops if they're unsure if you're even there anymore."

"Then what if they station their troops at the security gate? To make sure I don't leave." Ivory replied Ryuu's brows rose.

"Wow, you're intelligence has soared." Ryuu retorted, Ivory wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not.

"There it is," Ryuu pointed out, Ivory had forgotten she and Ryuu had continued walking. Haunter and Chandra hovered above them, invisible to the naked eye.

"Go for it," Ryuu said, looking up at the two Ghost pokemon. Haunter and Chandra started, glimpsing over at Ivory. Only when she nodded in approval did they thoroughly vanish from sight.

Ryuu and Ivory sat in waiting until they heard chaos rampage through the gate. Ivory has to sustain a smile as they leaped into action.

The doors smacked open, allowing the two free passage.

"You taught them well," Ryuu admitted as he witnessed all thirteen guards unconscious within the hall. Ivory's eyes bulged, but she had to recover quickly as someone began to moan.

"Hurry," Ryuu whispered hastily as he hurried to the other side with Ivory on her heels. Haunter and Chandra were using Nightmare on a big round guard; they ceased their fun as the trainers ran by them.

They scurried out the door with the ghosts in tow. Almost instantly, they were on the other side.

"Now, we're sitting ducks." Ryuu muttered, telling Ivory that basically until they were in the care of Erika's, they would have to keep their guard up at all times. Ivory swallowed nervously.

Ryuu began to walk, Ivory did too.


	26. Nightmare

**Chapter Twenty-Six --- Nightmare**

Ryuu told Ivory to be still and wait behind the rock till he came back. Of course, as much as she wanted to disobey, the monstrous clouds above kept her obedient. She was sitting behind the tall, brown-gray rock Ryuu has pointed out to her, leaving her in the company of Chandra (Ryuu took Haunter).

Despite Team Rocket taking over, the vegetation remained lush in places they merely passed through. At this point in time, nothing appeared _lush_ but all plant life was dormant – which was expected seeing as it was above to become a hell frozen over pun intended.

Ivory sighed as she pecked at the ground with her fingers. The soil was stiff, like there was ice already packed into it. Ivory soon gave up and decided to stare up at the almost black, condensing clouds.

"_Gas…?"_

Chandra scrutinized her trainer carefully; so far she didn't seem out of the ordinary. Unknown to Ivory, Chandra and the rest of her pokemon – like Aldara – knew there was something mentally unstable within her. They were pokemon, they could _sense_ it. Being her pokemon, it was natural they felt concern for her and wished to truly know what was troubling her.

Chandra blinked and peered back where they saw Ryuu and Haunter's departing backs almost fifteen minutes ago. When she saw no sign of their return, Chandra sighed.

"Gastly," 

"What is it Chandra?" Ivory sometimes (actually always) wished she could understand her pokemon in their tongue. Alas, it would never be that way and Ivory knew she must learn eventually how to read her pokemon through expressions and gestures. At that moment, it was easy seeing as Chandra was an open pot spilling out her woe.

"What's wrong? Miss Haunter?" Ivory asked sneakily, Chandra blushed before her timid side took over and she gave up trying to pry her trainer open. She began to hover away.

"Hold on Chandra! I was kidding!" Ivory cried while stifling her laughter. Chandra didn't seem to believe her as she looked back at Ivory, pondering whether she should return to her original spot.

"Gas…" 

"Ryuu 'n Haunter will be back soon, he said they're just looking for a safe spot to wait out the storm." Ivory said, Chandra frowned and Ivory knew why. Why would they have to wait behind a large rock? Wouldn't it be safer to be together? Also wouldn't it be faster to search out the area if they split up or something? That could be it though, Ryuu didn't _want_ to split up. Was he paranoid about something?

_Well, besides Team Rocket running amuck Kanto what else should he be paranoid about you nitwit!_ A dark voice hissed in the back of her skull, she shook her head and the voice faded away.

_But wouldn't it be safer if I were with him then?_ The voice didn't answer back quickly.

_Maybe he abandoned you._ It replied and in retort, Ivory growled.

Chandra appeared very worried now, Ivory appeared to be talking to herself the way she was grimacing and flexing her fingers like she was about ready to launch at an invisible person. Chandra backed away a little more.

"_Gas? Gastly?"_ Chandra repeated, staring worriedly at Ivory. Ivory's eyes widened as she snapped back to earth. She looked at Chandra sheepishly.

"Sorry about that, just deciding something!"

Chandra didn't look convinced at all.

They were both relieved to see Ryuu return five minutes later.

"We found a small cave, Haunter's waiting for us there." Said Ryuu, Ivory nodded and along with Chandra followed Ryuu through a densely planted part between the two Routes of 5 and 7. Ivory never left Ryuu, like she was his shadow and Chandra hers.

A harsh wind picked up again like earlier, forcing the three to duck down.

"As soon as this wind dies we're making a run for it – it's not far but the storm is going to set off at any moment!"_Two hours my ass!_ Ryuu thought brutally as Ivory used her arms to lessen the cold sting against her face.

True to his word, Ryuu bolted like Panther as soon as the wind calmed. Ivory gasped.

"Wait up!" she instinctively cried as she and Chandra took off after him.

At that moment, the clouds broke and snow upon snow came rushing down. The juggernaut wind and frozen water slammed Ivory into the dirt, ramming her newly healed nose into the ground (she had the cast taken off a day or two ago) and nearly breaking it again. She attempted to get back to her feet and chase after Ryuu's diminishing form.

_Doesn't he notice I fell!?_ Ivory's mind screamed, she gripped at the ground as she looked around frantically for Chandra. The Ghost pokemon was no where to be found, had the wind propelled her away too? So far she was now twirling in the air currents like a hopip? If so, her pokemon was probably worse off then her.

_Ryuu! Chandra!_ "R-RYUU! CHANDRA!!" She yelled as she grasped at a nearby tree and hauled herself up, but as soon as she went around it. The storm blew a new generation of massive snowflakes and a savage wind – successfully blowing her off her feet and into a tree behind her.

The trees' bare branches danced hazardously fast to the point some were ripped off.

Ivory had now realized this wasn't just any snowstorm – it was a deadly blizzard! Yet, the last time Kanto had something this bad was…well beyond the time she was born!

_C'mon girl! Think! You're grandfather is an ICE gym leader for cryin' out loud!_ Ivory's hair whipped at her face, which was now growing horribly numb. As she took a step, her boot came down on something, _crunching it._

_No way!_ There was already a fresh layer of snow on the ground and it hadn't even been snowing for five minutes! Now Ivory was entering a state of panic. She looked every which way and all she saw was white. Then more white and alas, tons more white! Her breathing began to quicken and her heart raced.

_Told you he would abandon you._ A dark voice snickered. _That was their plan all along, to lure you away from a nice warm home and into the cruel world where you would eventually freeze to death!_

If she cried at all from the harsh words emitting from her mind, she couldn't feel the tears. Ivory practically hugged the tree for dear life, not knowing what to do to save her hide.

_Why didn't I run faster – why didn't I run as soon as the wind stopped?_ Was she not experienced enough? Of course, that had to be it! This was her very first _perilous_ snowstorm, back in Mahogany there were snowfalls, sometimes a few blizzards but nothing as horrid as this! Ryuu had left her, but this was not like the other lessons he had taught (except for that one with Kouka and Corey) her, she could DIE out here!

"I want to go home…" she whispered, her mind growing fuzzy and her mind going numb. She couldn't even feel how the snow was piling up to her knees. She had forgotten Pallet was _bombed_, but knew she couldn't see her father again, it frustrated her. _Why_ couldn't she see him again? Why couldn't she _recall?_

Why was she so sleepy? She was fine moments ago…

Her grip on the tree began to loosen and the snow was rapidly rising to her waist.

Who was that old woman…Agatha? Where did she go off to? She hadn't seen her in a while…

_Agatha?_ Suddenly her eyes rendered to sleep and she promptly fell into the snowbank behind her. Her vision had gone black, but an elderly lady made her way into her blind sight.

"_What're you doing Numbskull? I thought you were going to save the world?"_ She sounded sarcastic.

_That sounds incredibly cheesy…I'm no hero, I don't want to save the world, that's Ash Ketchum's job…_

"_Well, he ain't here is he?"_

_Guess not._

"_Listen, just get off your ass and not die would you? You haven't even used ANY of the skills I bestowed upon your half-wit!"_

_Same as always, even in your grave…_

That was it that's _why_ she couldn't see Agatha or her father again. They were DEAD! She remembers now…

_"Don't you a-go and cry! You'll freeze your eyelids shut!"_

_I can't help it!_

"_Yes you can!"_

_Why does everyone expect so much from me!?_

"_Because you're hope!"_

_I'M SICK IN THE HEAD! How can I be hope?_

"_If you weren't hope I wouldn't have bothered buffing you up!"_

_What do you expect me to do!? I'm helpless! Hopeless!_

"_Yes, you may be. YET YOU NEVER LET THAT STOP YOU BEFORE!"_

_Why did we ever move to Kanto! Why couldn't we have stayed with Grandpa! I miss him too!_

"_You're humiliating!"_

_I'm THIRTEEN! I shouldn't be LIVING like this!_

"…_defeat Team Rocket Ivory."_

"_So that no one after you must go through the same ordeal."_

"_Now stop your sniffling, he's coming!"_

_Who…?_

Agatha vanished from her sight.

Ivory felt something warm press against her flesh, and then something cool stroked her cheek. It was a hand she figured and whoever it belonged to didn't leave; she felt a presence behind her. In front of her face, she felt something furry brush against her nose. She inched her hand towards it, but the motion tired her so she stopped.

"_Eevee?"_

_Panther…?_ Ivory thought before rolling back into slumber.

Again she awoke, this time she could open her eyes without them feeling heavy. Yet she couldn't move – at all.

An ample fire burned brightly in front of her, it's orange and red flares dancing merrily. Curled at her temple was Panther, a little ways afar was Kameko sleeping inside her shell and Blazeheart nearly snoozing IN the fire. Chandra and Haunter roamed about the ceiling; Diamondpelt remained inside her ball out of fear of the flame.

Awareness began to sink into Ivory as a weight appeared to be on her upper torso. She then felt the touch of a rising and falling chest behind her, pressing against her back. Someone's patterned breathing blew gently into her exposed ear.

_Ryuu?_ Uneasily, Ivory looked back into the fire, her form quaking slightly.

_He saved me…_ she felt so weak, so horribly feckless. Why couldn't she do _anything_ for herself? Was she as pathetic as Ryuu made it seem? She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself not to cry in Ryuu's arms. She may not have been the strongest, smartest or most experienced when it came to other trainers but she tried to be. She really did! She recalled the faint memory of her strange conversation with Agatha.

_What does everyone expect for me to do?_

She curled her body slightly, but enough to wake Ryuu.

"Ivory? Are you awake?" Ivory snapped her eyes shut, not eager to face Ryuu now. Yet her reddening face gave her away. She heard him give a light chuckle as he straightened himself.

"You're a horrible actress." He said smugly.

"Thanks, you're a horrible friend." She retorted, Ryuu seemed taken back.

"Well, that's a nice way to thank someone for saving your-"

"You_left _me! You _know_ and _knew _I wasn't fast – not fast enough to keep up with you let alone get here in time to avoid the snow!" Ivory cried, waking Kameko, Blazeheart and Aldara. Panther stirred but remained in slumber while Diamondpelt watched curiously from her ball.

"Why did you do that?" Ivory demanded as she jerked her posture around to face Ryuu. Unfortunately, the blanket he had placed over her slid off her chest, exposing her undershirt. She blushed madly as she yanked the blanket back up and not even glancing at Ryuu like she intended to, she yanked back over and covered her entire head with the blanket.

_He UNDRESSED me!!!_ She went to bury her face in the pillow only to realize it was Ryuu's other arm then bit it. When he quickly withdrew his limb did she attempt to make her head comfy against the stone floor. She heard Ryuu sigh next to her.

"You were _soaked_ and would've caught something if I hadn't stripped you! At _least_ your undergarments were dry." Ryuu claimed blandly, "Blaziken'll have them dry soon."

"You are such a jerk – I rather have froze to death!"

"What would be the point of that? Your body would've been stripped anyway and given a lovely dress or something for the funeral. One way or another, someone'll see you naked. You're not even ENTIRELY naked." Ryuu growled, but he sounded entertained.

"You're changing the subject. Why couldn't I have gone with you?" Ivory asked coolly, not leaving the den she had made for herself beneath the blanket. Ryuu snorted.

"I might as well tell you…knowing you, you'll mope for days now…"

Ivory muttered something incoherent under her breath.

"What was that?"

"What were you doing?" Ivory asked quickly, Ryuu sighed.

"I was checking up on a nearby EO zone, there are a few scattered around Kanto where it's still safe for pokemon and human to roam – for now." Ryuu answered briefly, Ivory sat up quickly but kept the blanket wrapped around her chest.

"_EO zone?_ Like a refuge?" Ivory asked, her eyes wide. Ryuu shrugged.

"You could call it one, before you ask…we try to keep track of all those who enter them. They're well-hidden and no one from Pallet Town has been in one – recently."

"What do you mean _recently_?" Ivory asked, not losing hope.

"Bruce from the Elite Four created the EO zones along with the private technology invented by Professor Oak." Ryuu explained again briefly, like he was too scared to mention too much. "The technology is original and hasn't been made by Team Rocket as far as we know of so they're safe from their tracking devices."

"There's still hope…" Ivory hadn't forgotten her father's future-telling Xatu.

"How do you figure?"

"…" Ivory suddenly felt insecure letting Ryuu pry like that, she felt if she were to tell him anything that sounded remotely cheesy that he would burst out laughing or call her a naïve little girl – again.

"_You're still the child we all knew back then too,"_

The memory flashed through her mind, but she hastily shoved it away.

"Would it be too much to ask for a little bit of trust from you?" Ryuu asked not unkindly, but rather sadly. Ivory couldn't see him, but she heard him move onto his back. She didn't see how he placed his hands behind his head as he peered up at the ceiling of the cave.

"Why are you asking me?" Ivory was hopelessly confused, if only she were older she might have a clue how to understand the older boy. Instead she had to wonder why he was asking for her trust when it seemed before he didn't want her to trust him.

"It's driving me crazy," Ryuu admitted, "whenever I'm around you seem to _withdraw_ into your own world." Ryuu started when he remembered her mentality, he needed to get around to that.

"I don't like it there…"

"Where?"

"My own little world…"

"…" Ryuu didn't know how to reply to that, maybe this was a hint to him.

"Ryuu…what were your sisters like?" Ryuu eyed the back of her head strangely, unknown to him, beneath the blanket she was pondering why she had even asked him that. Was it curiosity or an attempt to rebuild the bond they had a long time ago?

Ryuu settled into the topic with a brief, sorrowful sigh.

"Aubrey and Catherine? Big sweethearts, loved pokemon…loved my pokemon. They were the best little sisters any brother could ask for…" Ryuu seemed to have been planning on saying these words, but never seemed to have gotten round to saying them. "It's like the saying goes…_you never know what you have until it's gone forever_…"

"I never had any siblings, it was always my dad and grandparents." Ivory claimed.

"Your gramps is Pryce right, he actually _married?_" Ivory had to laugh, Ryuu had to smile as she not only gave a heartfelt sound but also emerged out from under the blanket enough to face him without revealing her undershirt.

"Yeah, my grandma's name was Abigail. She died when I was young though…"

"Were they your dad's parents or your mom's…" Ryuu instantly started to trail off but Ivory didn't seem to mind.

"The woman came from Quest Island, but Grandpa and Grandma were Dad's folks. They've always lived in Mahogany." Ivory answered calmly, bent on referring to her mother as 'the woman.'

"If you don't mind me asking, but how…" Ryuu pondered over how to ask without making it sound wrong, but Ivory caught his plan.

"…" Ivory sank back under her blanket, Ryuu frowned.

"Ivory?"

"I've never told anyone this, but…"

"You don't have to tell me," _Yet,_ Ryuu thought glumly, Ivory sounded horrid all of a sudden. Like she was recalling a horrible incident…like she witnessed something she shouldn't have…

"My dad went on a business trip to Agate Village…"

_In Orre?_ Ryuu wasn't sure if she recalled the hint that Rocket Executive gave her, he only knew about it because Corey filled him in after his return. Ryuu made a mental note to look into it later and see if it had any connection with what Reba had said.

"I've…never told anyone…Grandpapa was in his gym training, he didn't care much about family then since grandma died a year before…the woman was in the kitchen I think talking on the phone…and…"

Ryuu had gathered that no one was around at the time of Ivory's tragic moment…Ryuu's mind began to swirl with reasons from the clues.

Ivory suddenly shelled up and began to shiver.

"I…I don't remember…" she gasped, cradling her head with the blanket and her hands. Ryuu's frown deepened as he stared at the back of her gray head.

"It wasn't pleasant though…" Ryuu heard her mutter quietly, Ryuu nodded in understanding. Maybe this whole mental thing Sabrina was concerned about... Whatever had happened to Ivory was so terrible that her mind acted out of reflex and wiped it out of her memory. Yet that came with a price, in some cases long-lasting amnesia and in others…

_Another personality…_? Ryuu's eyes widened, that would explain a lot! Ivory was struggling! Struggling to come in terms with her inner demons and attempting not to be affected by the triggers! It all made sense, Ryuu concluded. Yet what made this split nature occur?

Ivory was a young child; he knew that when this moment happened. It was probably longer than a moment, maybe half an hour or several hours! What had happened? Something inside him told him he didn't want to know…

The night wore on and so did the blizzard. Ivory had fallen asleep in her mini-cocoon and Ryuu was staring up at the ceiling. The pokemon had been returned to their poke'balls, this time out of precaution in case a Rocket happened to come by.

The fire crackled gleefully, well, it had until it started to lessen. Now it growled spitefully as it attempted to reach their cooling bodies.

Ryuu was dozing off slowly but surely, until small hands grasped at his shirt. With his hands behind his head, it was easier for Ivory to cling closer to him. Her face seemed pained; she was having a nightmare.

Ryuu, from experience with his own now deceased sisters, brought his arms down and wrapped them around her torso. He closed them tightly around her and for a moment, her quaking ceased.

As her shivering began again, this time she emitted a frightened squeak he placed his lips against her forehead and gave a quick peck before he buried his nose into her gray locks.

He was determined.


	27. The Oddish Trainer

**Chapter Twenty-seven -- The Oddish Trainer**

Mars sat inside the penthouse at the top of Celadon Mansion, after invading and pushing out its residents two years ago the Celadon Mansion was no longer ran by an old lady but now Team Rocket. TR also took back their Game Corner they lost to a trainer years before, but couldn't touch the gym ran by Erika.

_They might run through here,_ Mars had told herself. Giovanni was in no rush to meet his stepdaughter and personally, neither was she. She had done plenty of missions such as blowing up lakes and battling brats, but kidnapping them and delivering them to the boss without getting some trouble from the EO was a tough case.

She sipped at a martini, on second thought; Ivory and her bodyguard (Ryuu) would most definitely come through. It had been ten days since they had left Cerulean, obviously they're having trouble with the snow, ice and Rocket patrols. Mars had no such problems; she had originally ended up in Johto (for some twisted reason or another) but had quickly rebounded back into Saffron. There, she latched onto a ride to Celadon before the snowstorm had hit. Clever her!

Mars peered out of a window overlooking the silent city. Two years prior there were civilians laughing and engaging in small talk as they bustled in and out of the Department Store. Now no such happiness existed, all was swallowed by fear. At first, when Team Rocket Executive Tyson announced from the top of one of twenty tanks that Celadon was theirs he hardly drew attention.

The people were brave because Erika and her gym trainers stood there among them, glaring down the hunks of machinery without fear. Erika was brave, but very foolish. In the battle against the tanks their massive amount of plant life would possibly have thrived, if only Erika had not been distracted by the death of a citizen fleeing from the scene…

No longer did the people watch with confidence, they had ran for their homes and packed everything into the basement. No one ever left his or her homes except for severe need of it. Not that Team Rocket was constantly guarding every door; they were much too into the city's easy alcohol transport and partied at night. Yet the people were still scared to try to escape, a drunk Rocket was as bad as any as long as they had a gun or two strapped to their sides.

They were convinced (the whole of Kanto) that Team Rocket was ruthless and would not hesitate to pull the trigger on _anyone_. Mars smirked, how pathetic…if she were one of them, she would rather die than live in her dark basement for who knows how long…forever? Giovanni was confident and she had to admit he had reason to be so. With his growing power over Kanto and plan to rule supreme over Johto soon, any man would be ecstatic! Plus he had just gotten married with that Sevii slut…

Mars lips curled downward in a nasty frown as her thoughts roamed over to Cyrus, the former head of Team Galactic. Where had they fallen? Where had they taken a wrong turn? After that bloody girl and her two good friends took them down…after their whole ordeal! Where had they gotten so low as to _serve_ Team Rocket! They were no longer Team Galactic, but minions inferior to them. Cyrus, she thought was a god, but now even he cowered before Giovanni like a shivering meowth kit. When he wasn't in Giovanni's presence however, he like all other ex-Galactic members stayed in their labs and worked.

Mars didn't really want to do this mission; in fact, she didn't want to do it just because Giovanni ordered it upon her. She wished to make him angry, but if she did she would be thrown in Hell, quite frankly in torture cells…the shrill screams of agony still rang in her ears from long nights guarding escape routes down there…she shuddered.

Just how long did Giovanni expect Mars to take? However long his patience kept with him, she believed. She smirked into her drink; another blizzard was to arrive that night. The two trainers were going to take a while yet, all the more delaying her delivery.

* * *

"Welcome!" a young girl cried with an oddish sitting on her shoulder. Her hair was down, straight and a lovely shade of bright plum. Her eyes matched her hair with a young set of long lashes. She was possibly around eleven.

Ivory followed Ryuu through the hidden passage, shocked to find herself in a dome filled with vast, exotic Kanto plants. She could hardly make out the walkway…the girl with the oddish shut the door behind them and sealed it with a large rock and a few pink lilies.

"My name's Sylvia Rothenbush, this is Dot my oddish." The girl said, pointing from herself to her pokemon. Dot cried out a welcome.

"Ryuu, this is Ivory."

"Ah yes, Erika-san's been expecting you two! She's busy right now, but she told me to take you to your rooms to get you settled." Sylvia explained as she motioned for them to follow her. Ivory and Ryuu both peered up at the glass-made dome ceiling, dodging under plants to avoid any passing helicopters seeing them. Sylvia giggled.

"It's tinted, you can't see _in_ – at all." Sylvia commented, making both trainers flush slightly as they just then noticed she wasn't sneaking through the undergrowth.

Ivory sighed as she dropped her carryall bag onto her temporary bed. She was so happy to not be sleeping on the rough ground inside a cave or near snow…

Ivory started, then sighed as she unclasped a poke'ball constantly squirming due to the restless pokemon inside it. Along the way to the gym's hidden tunnel, Ivory and Ryuu did experience a battle with Team Rocket…

**Flashback**

"_Did you hear something?" Ivory asked, hearing the bushes rustle. Ryuu was quiet, like a hunting growlithe he listened intently with his ears. He had gone still seconds ago…_

"_There's no use hiding," Ryuu snarled, clearly unexcited about the delay in their traveling. Ivory readied herself by snatching Blaze's ball. Ryuu hatched out Blaziken. _

"_Keep it up and I'll have you burned to ashes!" Ryuu threatened as she released Blaze to add on to the threat. Ivory was hoping he was bluffing, she gazed around the forest scenery she didn't want to be responsible for the destruction of this place…_

"_You're the ones Sir Giovanni is after…" someone slurred grossly as a squad of four emerged from said bushes. The EO trainers and their pokemon narrowed their eyes on the agents._

"_We already know that," Ivory replied sarcastically, Ryuu shook his head._

"_Blaziken! Flamethrower!"_

"_You too Blaze!" The two Fire pokemon inhaled deeply before stretching their mouths wide-open to allow an exit for their pent-up flames. The four TR agents didn't flinch as the flame hit them, Ryuu and Ivory learned why after the fire died out._

"_What the-" Ivory gasped, they weren't burned at all. Upon closer inspection, both Ivory and Ryuu discovered the agents had been smothered in glossy lotion that was apparently fireproof._

"_Shit…" Ryuu muttered under his breath, Ivory looked at him in shock she had never heard him swear before. This situation must be bad, but they were fireproof? That couldn't stop Kameko from blasting them away or Aldara drilling into them. All ideas swiftly left her minds as all four drew out hard-core, slick, black bullpup styled rifles. _

Well, there goes our confidence…_ Ivory thought bitterly, Blaze stepped back and Blaziken eyed the guns wearily. His legs were tense, as if ready to spring._

"_Giovanni wants the girl alive," one agent growled into the man closest to them, the one that had spoken just moments ago._

"_Then lets pump the boy full of lead," another grunted with a sickening smile. Ivory paled as she turned to look at Ryuu, he seemed unfazed by it all instead he looked like he was in deep thought._

"_I like to see lifeless eyes, the girl will be alive and will have them too…hehe…" the last of the four snickered, imagining the trauma that would soon come if they didn't think something fast._

"_I would like to see you all have a real battle against me! One-on-four!" Ivory cried, trying desperately to think of ways to stall for time for Ryuu's pondering. The men laughed._

"_The wee little girl wants to play pokemon battle boys…ha!" they laughed some more, Ivory burned red and clenched her teeth._

"_I'm at my exact average height at this point in time!" Ivory cried, stomping a fresh step in the snow. The men only laughed some more._

"_Ha, this was getting so funny I had almost forgotten…HA!" The largest man, the one who had slurred raised his gun and aimed at Ryuu. The Blaziken trainer was wise enough to wake from his thoughts just then. His eyes snapped open and almost just as quickly, appeared before the large man his hands clasped around the gun._

"_What the hell!" he cried, but Ryuu had already launched off his shoulders in which rocketed the man into the cold ground. Ryuu shoved the butt of a rifle into another man's face successfully breaking his nose._

_Everything froze when the third guy held the tip of his own weapon against Ryuu's temple._

"_RYUU-!" Ivory cried as the man put his finger over the trigger. Then suddenly something slender and violet hurled out of the undergrowth and landed on the third man. Being as distracted as he was, he dropped his gun and yelled for the last conscious guy to remove the pokemon as the snake began to coil around his upper torso and neck._

"_Blaziken!" Ryuu cried, as if waiting for this moment Blaziken sprinted to the fourth man's side and easily swiped his consciousness with a hit of his fist on the back of his head. The third man dropped; suffocating. Ivory did not turn away as the ekans squeezed the last remaining breath out of the body._

_The ekans then uncurled itself and began to slither away, but Ivory had already thrown the ball at it._

**End of Flashback**

"Victory…" It was decided, Ivory couldn't come up with a nickname back there in the snowy woods as they had rushed off the scene and ran the rest of the way to the concealed entrance into Celadon Gym. Now she had thought and pondered, Victory was a grand name for the serpent that risked her life taking on the agent.

The death did not disturb Ivory as much as before, it was only a man with a filthy thought process. A natural Team Rocket and bad to the bone, those were the kind of agents the EO had to watch out for. Ivory had never encountered them before, well, she had but she had gotten a close-up and now knew what to look for:

Dead or crazed eyes zooming around in their sockets with bizarre, sadistic grins that made evil clowns run away in shame. Their skin held a greenish tinge to it and their hair slightly oily. They also didn't keep their uniforms in neat order.

"You caught an ekans huh? Be careful round them, they're favored by Team Rocket for a reason y'know," Sylvia said, she was at the doorway with her hands folded. The oddish sat on her shoulder still, shuddering slightly from the mentioning of the ekans.

"Only because they are serpent pokemon, they're not truly evil as what they symbolize. Horrible people like them because they are witty and cold-blooded, but kind people like arcanines and pidgeots. Yet those pokemon can just as easily kill as ekans' and arboks." Ivory replied curtly, she would defend her pokemon morals against such discrimination. It was like stereotyping, not all pokemon are to be classified the same by the act of one of their own.

Sylvia shrugged.

"Okay, okay don't get all preachy about it. Do you want to come and eat?" the oddish trainer asked, Ivory's stomach growled out her answer. Sylvia laughed as Ivory blushed.

A moment later, Sylvia was leading Ivory through a well-lit hallway giving Ivory the impression Kanto wasn't under Team Rocket's reign. Friendly, potted plants sat in corners and hung elegantly along the walls beside doors. Not only was the sight welcoming, but the aroma emitting from the flora was extremely pleasant. This was a change from the odorless, icy outdoor world.

"Do you like being a trainer Ivory-chan?" Sylvia suddenly asked as she stroked Dot. The younger girl looked up at Ivory with large eyes. "Believe it or not, I was one of those people who feared pokemon because of Team Rocket…"

Ivory could understand why people were afraid of certain types, recalling the event with the psycho mightyena she could…but what about pidgy? Pichu? Buneary? How could anyone fear something as adorable as those kinds? That was what she _couldn't_ understand, especially since they're harmless if you're gentle with them…

"Erika gave me Dot, she's my first pokemon. What was yours?" Sylvia asked, the atmosphere relaxing around them.

"Oh, mine was a squirtle I named Kameko. She evolved into a wartortle though," Ivory answered with a bright smile. Sylvia's faltered.

"I don't want Dot to evolve, I don't really like Gloom a whole bunch, but I like vileplumes! Then there are the bellossoms! Those are adorable!" Sylvia squealed, Ivory smiled awkwardly. If she liked their full evolutions so much, why didn't she just get the whole ordeal over with? Yet that wasn't right, during the stage as a gloom it sounded like Sylvia wouldn't love Dot at all…

Dot didn't seem bothered by the conversation at all. She was grinning merrily upon her shoulder.

Dot would be happy as long as her trainer was happy; she would do anything to keep that happiness. How did the pokemon trained under Team Rocket agents feel? Did they like their trainers and let torture rain upon them for the joy of them? They weren't all the same; Team Rocket swapped pokemon often. Passed them along like tools…

"Here we are! This is the lobby, but you can eat here too! See, there's the buffet!" Sylvia pointed out that there was indeed a small table adorned with a simple, white cloth. On top of the flat surface were a few serving plates holding a ham, salad, beef, muffins, etc.

"Is there any pokemon food?" Ivory asked, Sylvia grinned.

"This is a greenhouse, it's convenient so we can grow _everything_ here." Sylvia replied, Ivory sent her a blank expression. "Of COURSE we have pokemon food!"

"What about the meat?"

"That's _imported_."

"Right," Ivory replied as she released her pokemon (except Diamondpelt). Ivory turned to Sylvia, who was shocked to see Kameko, Aldara, Panther, Chandra, Haunter (he came wandering aimlessly in), Blaze and the new recruit, Victory all in front of her. Dot was somewhat intimidated.

"Can I let DP out in the greenhouse seeing as the windows are tinted?" Ivory asked, showing Sylvia the steelix still concealed inside her ball. Sylvia nodded nervously.

"Go ahead, that way." Ivory didn't need to be told twice, after leading all the pokemon out to the greenery Sylvia exhaled.

"Wow," Sylvia mumbled. "That's A LOT of pokemon," Dot was speechless.

"I wonder if she's planning on battling Erika while she's here?"

"_Oddish,"_

* * *

**A/N:**

_Howdeeee! That's what Minnie Pearl did LOL Not a very long chapter (obviously), but I'm coming towards a very threatening wall called Writer's Block so I may take time off to sketch out an outline for the remaining part of the story (kay, some of it). I'm currently working on a Journalism, English and Spanish project so yeah...there's an idea of my schedule at the moment._

_I burn popcorn BEWARE!_

RR

Here, I thought this would be helpful. I'll attempt to write out the current pokemon for Ivory and other trainers, and yes since TR has control of Internet and other computer systems, trainers can now hold more than 6 pokemon. Which explains quite a bit don't it?

**Ivory's current party:**

_Kameko_ Wartortle (Female)

_Aldara_ Fearow (Female)

_Panther_ Eevee (Male)

_Haunter_ (Male) Actually, she's sorta just borrowing him...;

_Chandra_ Ghastly (Female)

_Blazeheart or Blaze_ Charmander (Male)

_Diamondpelt or DP_ Steelix (Female)

_Victory_ Ekans (Female)


	28. Dramaqueen

**Chapter Twenty-Eight -- Dramaqueen**

Diamondpelt basked in the shade the foliage the greenhouse provided, a giant bubble connecting to her snout indicated she was sleeping peacefully. Aldara made a perch closer to the tinted ceiling on a tall oak, down below her was Blaze and Panther chasing each other merrily. Victory, the newest recruit, watched the team wearily from her own coils from atop a large sunning rock. Kameko stayed close to Ivory, her tails swaying with each movement as Ivory made her way under a tree to lay on her stomach.

Ivory's pale skin hungrily soaked up the comfort the thick grass provided as she placed her face down on the cool surface. Kameko followed suit with a content sigh.

"It doesn't even feel like it's all inside…" Ivory commented lazily, completely uncaring of her condition (on the run from Team Rocket) at the moment. The stress was still there; all the pokemon felt it but chose to ignore it all for the time being. No one could blame them, especially since there were others looking out for danger anyway.

Panther tackled Blaze into the ground, avoiding his flaring tail. Diamondpelt automatically shifted away from the fire in her sleep and Aldara rolled her eyes.

Ivory pondered over the lizard, he was becoming more energetic. He wanted to spend more time with his teammates and seemed more alive every day. Perhaps it was the Cecil in him; he was never a boy to dwell on the past…

"_Hi, name's Cecil. Cecil O'Brien, I noticed a moving truck and just thought I'd come over-"_

Ivory shook her head then buried her face into her arms; Kameko's eyelids drooped in sorrow towards her trainer. She wasn't a hundred percent sure what she was thinking about, but lately anything that went through her mind was melancholy.

"_Blazing Heart, Blaze for short. With my pokemon, I'm gonna beat every Kanto gym leader and beat the Elite Four! If I'm lucky, I'll go one-on-one with Ash Ketchum! That would be awesome!"_

Ivory sniffed, forcing the memory back into the crevices of her mind. Blaze jumped to his feet and playfully waved his tail at the Normal-type, Panther squealed and ran off, Blaze pursued but not as fast as the eevee.

"Hey, knew I would find you here!" Ryuu cried, shock rendered Ivory frozen. She heard a _smile_ in that exclamation! In fact, he was grinning as he strolled over with a Styrofoam cup in each hand. He plopped down beside Ivory before offering her one.

"It's hot chocolate," he tempted; Ivory blamed it on the Grass pokemon that surrounded them. Ryuu _had_ to be intoxicated off their Sweet Scent! Even Kameko was eyeing strangely to prove her point.

"The grass can't possibly smell as good as this!" Ryuu was already taking quick sips from the cup in his left hand while still offering the other in his right.

"C'mon! It's something other than water, I thought you would leap for it," he teased.

"Who are you and what have you done with Ryuu?" Ivory questioned as she finally peered up at him, her eyes rimmed with red. Ryuu sighed when he glanced at her face.

"What is it this time?" he asked, but not unkindly. Ivory huffed.

"I thought you would know by now I cry over everything," she growled, shame written all over her morale. Ryuu took another drink from his hot chocolate, as if hoping it would keep him from making an outburst.

"You didn't cry when you fell from Mt. Moon,"

"That was actually kind of funny, I landed on _you_." She smiled as she looked back on the event; Ryuu unconsciously reached for his back where it had ached two days after the painful encounter.

"What about getting your nose fixed? You didn't cry then either,"

"Funny, I don't remember you being around?"

"Casey told me,"

"Who didn't she tell?"

"Giovanni,"

"What?" Ivory peered at Ryuu with confusion, he smirked.

"Giovanni doesn't know you broke your nose,"

"Shuddup,"

"Now your little button nose resembles a crushed aluminum can-"

"It does not!" Ivory snapped as she grabbed her nose as if to be sure it was fine, Ryuu laughed at her reaction.

"I'm kidding! Geez Dramaqueen," Ivory seemed to finally notice the hot chocolate.

"Is that for me?" she asked slowly, Ryuu shrugged.

"If you want it," he replied blandly, her azure eyes kept focused on the older teen. Then cautiously she raised her hand to it; she was only paranoid because she felt Ryuu would only start moving it away from her as his nature commands.

"Oh, _stop_!" she barked as he did begin moving it away with a smirk.

"Stop boy!" she said, but wasn't expecting it when he did. Some of the hot chocolate grazed the edge and dropped onto her outstretched hand.

"Ow!"

"You okay?"

"Fine, fine," she took the steaming cup and fondled it in her hands. Ryuu chuckled.

"Did I ever tell you how I got Blaze?"

"Hm, the charmander?"

"Yes,"

"I don't recall, why?"

"He came from a friend of mine from Pallet," she explained, Ryuu suddenly felt the atmosphere drop a few degrees. Was this friend of hers killed in the bombing?

"He left Pallet before it was…yeah," she answered his unspoken thought, "he was shot and killed by a Rocket I think, I wasn't around when it happened."

"What was his name?" Ryuu asked.

"Cecil O'Brien,"

"Oh, that kid that defeated Erika?"

"Erika? He was never here-"

"I heard some of the trainers here talking about him, Erika wasn't hard on him, she battled him with a bellsprout and an oddish. He got the Rainbow Badge,"

"How did he get all the way over here?" Nothing was making sense, Cecil was killed a long ways from here with only Blaze as his partner! Worse, she hadn't even bothered looking for other valuables on him before she buried him! She could've given whatever badges he won to his parents…

She forgot again.

Ivory couldn't help but remain gloomy for another five minutes as her hot chocolate cooled. Ryuu was drinking his happily as if it wasn't over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Then again, he probably liked it hot or he got his sooner than hers. She set the cup on the grass with her hands still cradling it; Kameko was beginning to doze off.

"He did somehow, but it was rough," Ryuu said suddenly, she looked up at him with woeful blue eyes, he didn't look her way. He had finished his beverage and now held it with his hand over a bent leg, his back against the tree behind them. "Erika said he was in pretty bad shape, took about two weeks before he could walk again she said…a houndour or something got a hold of his leg…"

"Oh," what else was she supposed to say? There wasn't a Cecil O'Brien alive for her to pity, sympathizing for him while he died doing something he wanted didn't feel right.

"I…can see how you two became friends," Ryuu finished awkwardly as he adjusted his position a little. Ivory smiled softly, Cecil was a sweet kid in his own right. Why were the innocent ones always the first to go? It wasn't right, the evil ones shouldn't exist…the fact that Cecil's murderer was still on the loose scared and angered Ivory.

"He would've liked you, he would've been like me…" Ivory whispered, Ryuu cocked his head.

"What? You mean-"

"You would be one of his role models, Ash Ketchum was one of them." Ivory explained in more detail with exasperation written all over her features. "He liked to battle, when I first met him all he ever talked about was pokemon and battling…" A look similar to the one she had in the cave while having a nightmare smeared across her face. She instantly dropped the subject and went silent.

"I told Erika your story,"

"Since day one?" Ivory attempted to joke, Ryuu grinned lightly.

"Day one since your dead weight plummeted me into the ground," he retorted playfully, Ivory snorted.

"You shouldn't have been there,"

"You would've looked like a pancake,"

"Ewww…"

"Yep, Erika said she wishes to battle you." Ivory got to her knees.

"Really?"

"I had a feeling you would like the idea,"

"Are you kidding! It seems like we haven't battled in _centuries_! When can we?" Ivory asked, Ryuu searched his brain.

"Uh…tonight or tomorrow I think," Ryuu replied, Ivory's eyes shined, the first they had since…well, Ryuu couldn't remember. It must've been a long time since he had seen her so happy, which saddened him because he knew he was mostly the reason why she was so plaintive.

"Who are you going to use?" Ryuu questioned, referring to her team. Ivory peered over at them.

"Blaze is definitely one of them, he's been doing really well and I think he's ready…Aldara, she's a Flying type…do you know what the rules will be?" Ivory asked, Ryuu looked up in thought.

"Three-on-three I do believe,"

"All right Dr. Suess," Ivory laughed, Ryuu smiled in return as she went on to think of the third fighter.

"Chandra? Hm…I don't Panther sliced and diced,"

"You want _Chandra_ sliced and diced?" Ryuu raised a brow, Ivory flushed.

"T-That's not what I meant!" she went on the defensive quickly.

"I think Panther will do well, what attacks does he know?"

"Tackle…Sand Attack…Quick Attack…Growl…"

"What level?"

"Around his late twenties,"

"He'll do fine, Erika's using pokemon in their twenties." Ryuu replied encouragingly, but that wasn't the problem. Panther was Ivory's baby; she didn't want to have to use a Potion (or worse Revive) on the eevee.

"You need a little more trust in your team Iv," Ryuu claimed, Ivory suddenly felt her back pressed closer to the ground with a shameful burden. He just read her like an open book.

"Just believe a little, throw them out on the battlefield and hold your faith and everything will turn out in the end," Ryuu assured, Ivory didn't looked at him as she bit her tongue.

_Was that how you always saw it?_ She wanted to ask, but somehow, it would've sounded wrong no matter how hard she made it not to.

"If you win, I'll take you to an EO Zone, you can catch your own pokemon there."

"You would?"

"Why not, there's one on the way to Fuchsia,"

"Why…are you being so kind?" Ivory had to ask now, she didn't know if this new Ryuu was scarier than the last or not. Ryuu folded his hands behind his head.

"I thought you preferred me being nice, or would you rather I go back to being brutally honest?"

"You can be brutally honest, but it doesn't require you to be mean," she replied simply, he looked away.

"I can't wait…to see the outside world like this and not from beneath a tinted ceiling," Ryuu commented from out of the blue, Ivory nodded in agreement.

The poke'gear suddenly started to buzz against Ivory's chest, she flashed it out in a jiffy. She eyed the number, not believing the ID it told her. Ryuu watched her carefully.

"Who is it?"

"I won't believe it…"

"Who is it?" he repeated, shaking Ivory pressed her thumb against the keypad and spoke into it.

"H-Hello?"

"Ivory? Sweetheart is that you!" the voice was masculine and it was someone Ryuu didn't recognize, but apparently Ivory did as she burst into tears.

* * *

**A/N:**

_This was one of those talkalot chapters, there will be action soon I assure y'all!_

_Anyone who can guess who that is gets a cookie! _

RR


	29. Vacillate

**Chapter Twenty-Nine -- Vacillate**

"Mr.Koguu am I right?" Ryuu questioned, he took the poke'gear from Ivory for a split second before her new tears landed on it. Yet now his life – more so his hands – were in jeopardy.

"GIMME MY PG!" Alas, Ivory nicknamed the darn thing PG. The poke'gear was swiped out of his hands faster than he had snatched it from hers. Instead of fighting over it, he settled down comfortably beside her, the speaker was loud enough for him to hear five feet away anyway.

"Daddy!?" Ivory hugged the gear, Ryuu feared for its life but did not dare reach for it.

"_Don't break it!_" Ryuu hissed, Kameko and Ivory's other pokemon watched and listened with curiosity.

"Chill," Ivory replied.

"Who are you with Ivory?" Dale questioned, his voice crackling slightly.

"His name's Ryuu, he's been helping me since after I left Daddy," Ryuu took note of how she said 'Daddy'. Like she thought she would never say it again…her tongue, cheeks and teeth were easy on it like it was a delicate thread connecting her to Dale that would easily snap if she wasn't careful. Ryuu resisted wrapping his arms around her shoulders in means of comfort.

Dale sighed with relief and further worry.

"Where are you?"

"Don't say anything," Ryuu whispered in her ear, she understood without argument. Not only could their conversation be tapped into by unknown detection technology of Team Rocket's, but also they could be on the other line trying to gain information through her father…oh no…

"Daddy?" her voice was strong, but her heart quivered.

"Yes?"

"I have to go,"

"Okay, I understand."

The poke'gear beeped off, Ivory continued to stare at its blank screen a few minutes afterwards. Kameko looked toward the other pokemon, they too held a sad face. Panther pawed at her ankle with large eyes.

"What made you shut it off?" Ryuu asked carefully, like Ivory, his thoughts revolved around similar situations her father could be in, but unlike Ivory, he had more ideas on the matter. He just wanted to hear hers.

"What if Team Rocket was trying to trace us through him?" she muttered, he had to strain his ears to hear her.

"What if that wasn't even your father?" he said it without thinking her azure eyes turned on him faster than any pokemon's could have. Her eyebrows furrowed and her soft lips tightly pressed against each other.

If he knew where her father was or even if he was still alive he would have given her that information at that very moment just to stop her from looking at him like that.

"Think about it," he quickly added, "How would he have gotten _Marina Dani's_ poke'gear number?"

"Why are you so _insensitive?_" her voice was still strong, but it was lacking fiber, it was lacking emotion – she was going numb.

"I didn't mean it like that…I was just saying-"

"Without thinking," she cut in curtly; she looked away, trying to busy her focus on something else.

"What if they found him…_what if_ they USED him then killed him…_what if-_" Ryuu couldn't stand it, the mean spirit inside him fled as his arms instinctually brought her to his chest. As she sobbed quietly into his shirt, like the two he had called sisters had once done, it scared him. It ripped open a wound that never properly healed within his own heart, her thoughts were exactly as his had been when Aubrey and Catherine had gone missing…

He clenched his eyes shut as he attempted to block off the memory.

Off in the distance a lone figure stood in a black kimono. Over the years her form had matured since her battle with Ash Ketchum, her hair was still short, but lacked the gloss from two years ago. Her eyes were tired and her skin pale, she folded her hands up into her sleeves.

_Sabrina, I see why she has intrigued you so…_ Erika thought with a mental sigh, she withdrew her hand and in between her fingers were three minimized poke'balls.

_Maybe she can bring life back into this gym…into me…_ after ten more minutes her hand hid away back into her sleeves before she retreated into shady ferns beyond their small refuge.

Panther's ears twitched, but when he looked back at the bushes he saw no one. He frowned, he could have sworn he heard footsteps…

Ryuu and Ivory hadn't broken apart yet, but didn't seem like they would for a while. They seemed so comfortable, but neither was looking the other in the eye. Instead, Ivory's eyelids drooped as Ryuu lightly stroked her head.

_Change was good._

Sylvia raised a brow, unaware of what she just walked into she cleared her throat.

Ryuu stifled a snarl in the eleven-year-old's direction as Ivory practically leaped out of his embrace. Her face blazed a deep crimson as she attempted to gather her thoughts.

"What is it?" Ryuu said coolly, Sylvia frowned. Dot sat in her arms comfortably.

"Team Rocket's near, Erika-san sent me to tell you to be prepared, they're armed." Ryuu's glare turned into a firm frown while the blush evaporated from Ivory's face.

"Who is leading them?" she asked, Sylvia looked up in thought.

"We're not sure," she replied.

"It's important that we know," Ivory growled as she returned her pokemon to their balls.

Depending on whom was leading the mission their fight could rage in various ways. In the past, at Cerulean Team Rocket was led by Tyson (supposedly) and he had organized an all out siege. By this, they could assume he was temperamental and headstrong, alas he was an executive so he still shouldn't be taken lightly. Even reckless people can summon miracles.

"Look, I don't know, if Erika knew she probably would've told me." Sylvia claimed, Ivory snorted and Ryuu's brows rose into his hair. Since when did Ivory snort? Perhaps she was growing assertive or indifferent?

"Whatever, what does she want us to do?" Ivory snapped, obviously the whole chain of events from her father's "voice" to Team Rocket's untimely decision to appear to Sylvia's tongue was ticking her off. Ryuu suddenly felt like the adult that had to settle this dispute among these children.

"Does she want us to do anything specific?" asked Ryuu lightly; he didn't want to trigger anything in Ivory now. Sylvia narrowed her eyes.

"Stay put and not do anything stupid." Sylvia replied, Ivory's cheeks flushed out of anger.

"Is that you speaking or Erika?" Ivory snarled, Ryuu put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I just like giving out orders. I'm joking though, she wants to see Ryuu, I'm supposed to escort him there and you…" she pointed at Ivory, "She wants you to battle her."

Ivory was surprised out of her fury.

"Huh?"

"She wants to battle you in a gym battle," Sylvia repeated, "duh!"

"Well, why? Now?"

"Of course not now! There's a bunch of Team Rockets heading our way!" Ivory believed if Sylvia stuck her nose any higher in the air Aldara might mistake it as a good place to perch. Ivory was horribly tempted to release her to try out her theory, but alas, decided to behave and her hand stopped itching for Aldara's ball.

"What does she want me to do during the fight then?" Ivory questioned, Ryuu had this deep, and sinking feeling this might not end well.

"What could you do during any fight against Team Rocket? They don't resort to pokemon battling as much as they used to, honestly, could you hold your own against fully arm Rockets?"

"Could you?"

"Yeah, I know how to use guns,"

"You _kill_ pokemon with those guns?" Ivory asked, hardly believing what she was hearing, the naïve Sylvia shrugged.

"It's either me or the pokemon," Sylvia stated simply, Ivory felt her ears turn blister-red.

Ryuu's eyes had gone wide when Ivory lunged at Sylvia.

"THEY DIDN'T CHOOSE THE FATE THEY'RE IN YOU BRAT!" Ivory cried, Ryuu snapped out of his stupor and ran to her. He attempted to pry her away from Sylvia but to no use, Ivory was bent on gouging her eyes out.

"HOW COULD YOU KILL AN INNOCENT POKEMON!?" Ivory continued, eyes glistening again. Images of the venemoth and Diamondpelt at their time of massive abuse raced into her vision, Sylvia tried to claw back.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY GO THROUGH! THEY'RE TORTURED! PUNCTURED! RIPPED! EXPERIMENTED ON! YOU THINK THEY'RE WORTHLESS AND YOU CAN JUST KILL THEM!? YOU'RE MORE TERRIBLE THAN TEAM ROCKET YOU PIECE OF CRAP!" Ryuu finally lifted her off of Sylvia; both sporting savage scratch marks from one anothers nails. Sylvia felt as if Ivory had slugged her ten times, perhaps she had – Ryuu was too busy with Ivory to worry what they were doing to each other.

"Brat," Ivory hissed as Ryuu placed her on her feet.

"Ivory," he hissed back, "Act your age,"

Ivory glanced at him with a deeper glare than she had before; hurt and betrayal swam in her azure orbs.

"Thanks for the help," she grunted gruffly, she readjusted her shirt. "I'm going to be a good girl and go to my room, don't bug me." With that, Ivory left the two. She left Ryuu frozen; he didn't even offer Sylvia a hand as she stood up on her own. She brushed off her pants and Dot, who had been thrown from Sylvia's grasp, stared up at her trainer with pain in her expression.

Ryuu sighed.

"_Girls_," Sylvia snorted at the comment he made.

"We're not all as nasty as she is, c'mon, Erika is waiting." Sylvia was rubbing a long red scratch along her chest when Ryuu peered over at her.

"What does she want Ivory to do?" Ryuu asked, he felt as if he had been asking this question one too many times.

"Probably drown in our garden's pond," Sylvia said sharply. Ryuu rolled his eyes.

* * *

Who was she to demand of anything of her? The brat was two years younger than she was for cryin' out loud! Ivory was infuriated beyond belief, in a few short hours the feeling would blow off, but that wouldn't be anytime near Team Rocket's attack. Ivory didn't want to see, hear heck work alongside Sylvia! Forget Erika, let the two of them battle and Ivory will show her who's boss!

"I hate kids," Ivory growled to herself, "I'm never having any,"

_Oof!_ Ivory was too busy looking down and being blinded by her fury to realize someone was in front of her. She bumped into the body and quickly stepped back to catch herself.

"Oops, sorry," she growled bluntly, then she looked at the person's feet – enclosed in soft geta sandals, above that was the hem of a colorful kimono.

"I see, you must be Ivory Koguu." A feather-soft, but experienced voice entered through her ears. Ivory looked up at the face of Erika, the Celadon Gym leader.

"And you Erika," Ivory replied without missing a beat, Erika smiled.

"You've been traveling as a new forbidden trainer have you not? You must have spirit, I do wish to battle you." Said Erika.

"So I've been told," Ivory stated, trying not to sound rude. Erika scanned her form.

"Were you in a fight?"

"Recently, but it's not important." Ivory hoped she would drop the topic, now that the adrenaline was dying, she was finding the whole scenario humiliating. Why did she launch at Sylvia like that? She wasn't proving to be anymore grown up than Sylvia by pulling something so immature.

Erika's eyes softened.

"You're eyes are growing deep for someone so young," Erika claimed as they made eye contact. Ivory couldn't help but look away.

"If it's a battle you want, we can do so later. What about Team Rocket?"

"No, we need to battle now."

"Now? Are you insane-"

"Release your pokemon, it will be a three-on-three match."

"What!? I'm confused we're going to be attacked!"

"We won't win unless the best trainers have their focus!" Erika claimed, as if scolding Ivory for her stupidity. Focus? What was she ranting about? She held up a minimized ball, with her thumb it grew to it's larger form.

"Choose! Now! Go!" She threw the ball and quickly, Ivory ran ten feet away, the light vanished and in its place stood a victreebel. Ivory clenched her teeth; a fire pokemon would do better against Erika.

"Go! Blaze!" The charmander appeared before the grass pokemon Erika smirked.

"A Fire type? How predictable, just as he had done." Erika recalled.

"You really want a battle in a hallway?" Ivory asked as she looked around her, her room was naught but in the center between Victreebel and Blaze. Erika nodded.

"Any place is for battle, Victreebel! Razor Leaf!"

"Blaze! Flamethrower!"

The leaves were burned to crisps as soon as Blaze's flame engulfed them; the flame continued unto Victreebel was too. Erika didn't appear worried in the slightest, for a brief moment Ivory feared she was using very high-leveled pokemon in which she didn't have a chance!

"Vine Whip!" Out of the fire rose a single vine; it slapped at Blaze, successfully flinging him into a wall.

"Blaze!" Victreebel appeared burned, but still stood. The vice protruded from behind its large mouth, it went to slap at Blaze again.

"Hurry and get up! Bite the vine!" Blaze's jaw was knocked to the side as the vine smacked him into the floor. Ivory gasped.

"Bite it!" As the vine slithered closer Blaze did, Erika's gaze darkened.

"Draw it in Victreebel!" Ivory watched as Blaze clung on to the vine like a magikarp to an old rod's line. The victreebel poised Blaze over it's gaping mouth as if about to eat it. From the way Erika was acting, Ivory wouldn't put it past her to allow her pokemon to feast on hers.

"Flamethrower into its mouth!" Ivory demanded, Blaze let go and instantly exhaled a mouthful of flames into the unsuspecting Victreebel. Erika flinched as the victreebel sagged into a miserable weed charred to the ovary. Blaze jumped away as soon as his paws hit the floor, he gave Ivory a high-five.

"Good job Blaze!"

Erika returned her pokemon and replaced it with another.

"You have yet to win Miss Koguu," she released a tangela. Blaze growled, he was growing restless but Ivory couldn't imagine why.

"Sleep Powder!" Erika ordered Tangela shook its body enclosed in vines sprayed blue powder that closed in around Blaze.

"No! Blaze cover your nose and mouth!" Blaze did so, but to no avail, the powder seemed to sink into his skin and put him into a deep slumber.

"Blaze!"

"Constrict!" Tangela summoned three vines and squeezed them around the sleeping pokemon. Ivory was disturbed she wasn't even given the chance to switch pokemon.

"Erika! What are you playing at?" Erika didn't respond.

"Erika! This isn't a game!"

"Team Rocket seems to think so, tell me Miss Koguu, what are you going to do?" Erika asked pleasantly, Ivory winced. Tangela continued to constrict Blaze's airways, slowly, but surely killing him.

"Blaze! Wake up! We CAN'T lose!" She didn't know why, but they couldn't. It was much more than ambition, losing meant taking Blaze away from her. Cecil was enough; she wasn't about to let him down.

"Blaze! Cecil would want you to wake up and win this!" Ivory's words seemed to fall on deaf ears, his face was turning colors, it was no longer a healthy orange.

"BLAZING HEART!" Blaze's eyes snapped, they disappeared into the white light that suddenly emerged from his skin. Ivory and Erika both gasped as he grew larger, the claws sharper and flame brighter.

"_Charmeleon!"_ The glowing stopped, Blaze evolved!

"Awesome!" Ivory cried, Erika grasped her mouth with one hand.

"Break out of it! You can do it!" Encouraged Ivory, the vines around Blaze's new red body shook, a ripping noise began to emit from the strength building up against Tangela's vines. In a split second, the vines were torn and Tangela withdrew them in tears. The charmeleon landed gracefully on the floor before Ivory. Blaze as a charmander had been a sweet thing with baby-like features, but now that he has matured, it seemed muscle had formed along each limb, even his tail looked strong enough to crack a rock!

His eyes did not hold the sad, despaired emotion he had as a charmander; they contained a passion for battle. A passion to make his previous trainer proud no matter where he was now.

"_Char!"_ He released a vivid flame with a sharp roar; Ivory couldn't help but grin.

Erika smiled as she returned Tangela, Ivory and Blaze looked at her; baffled.

"There is no need to battle further, our focus has returned." Erika said as the poke'ball vanished into her sleeves.

"Does this mean you're not sadistic anymore and we can take on Team Rocket now?" asked Ivory, Erika laughed softly.

"No," she said, "_You're_ taking on Team Rocket,"

* * *

**A/N:**

_Hullo! I've been updating my profile, so go and visit it! I'm going to try keeping you guys updated on my plans for present and future fics and what's going on about 'em._

Aspen

* * *


End file.
